The Power of Family
by Meluivan's Muse
Summary: So many secrets, manipulations and half-truths. Christopher Perry's life in the past suffer many changes after Piper throws him out of the Manor. AU of season six. Chris revelation story. Beginning after "Prince Charmed".
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

**Summary:** So many secrets, manipulations and half-truths. Christopher Perry's life in the past suffer many changes after Piper throws him out of the Manor. AU of season six. Chris revelation story.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** this is an AU of season six. I took the liberty to play with the order of the episodes and other things. For example, 'Sword in the City' and 'Chris-Crossed' hasn't happened yet. Piper and Leo are separated but not divorced. Paige and Phoebe are living in the manor. The family doesn't know that he is half witch half whitelighter. Piper isn't dating Greg or any other guy. The story will start after 'Prince Charmed', but Chris hasn't told them about Wyatt being evil. Piper threw him out of the house because he tried to convince them to bind Wyatt's powers and the chaos of the birthday and all that.

This chapter was beta'd by the awesome **Evil Amplified**. I think she did a pretty good job, since english is not my first language. 

I hope you enjoy this new story.

**The power of Family**

**Chapter 1**

_*Saturday, december 6__th__, 2003*_

'_I don't want to see you ever again'_ his mother's words ran over and over again in his mind.

He didn't know how things had turned out so horrible in such a short time. Yes, he had lied and manipulated, and just that afternoon he tried to convince his mother and aunts to bind Wyatt's powers. But he didn't think he had been _that_ horrible to warrant such treatment from his mother.

Chris took a deep breath and tried to relax, but didn't have much success. His father's words still rung in his mind, some stupid stuff about trust and all that rot.

After a couple of minutes, the young man closed his eyes in weary resignation; his father's words were not so stupid, because they rang with the sound of truth. He needed the sisters' trust, and that night he had lost it.

He opened his eyes again and stared at the sky. Every day that passed it was more and more difficult to be in the presence of his family. The distrust, the hateful stares and the painful words… it was just too painful, and it was becoming really hard not to show his displeasure, bitterness and pain. Sometimes he wanted to scream at them that he was hurting because of them, but to do that, he'd have to say his biggest secret, and he was not ready to do that, he didn't want to be close to his aunts and mother again, not after he had lost them when he was a teenager.

He wasn't ready to be his mom's little peanut, or his Auntie Paige's little angel, or his Auntie Phoebe's baby boy. And he knew that if they found out about his secret, he just might become that again. They'd start to love him immediately and would want to be a part of his life again. He didn't want to risk his heart and mind. After everything he had gone through in the last six years, he didn't know if he could take it.

Chris lowered his eyes and took on the sight of the San Francisco lights. A couple of minutes later, the first tear fell down his cheek.

**& & &**

_*Twenty minutes earlier* _

Leo let out a sigh and looked at his soon to be ex wife. He didn't like Chris, but the kid's scheme wasn't that horrible to warrant Piper's reaction. Maybe he'd have to talk to the boy and try to smooth things over. Surely Piper would calm down in a couple of days and Chris would be welcome again to the manor.

The man closed his eyes and sensed for the young whitelighter. A couple of moments later he sensed him in the bridge. He opened his eyes again and locked eyes with Piper. "I'm going out. I'll be back later." With those words, he orbed out.

Piper waved her hand and turned around, intent on leaving the attic and checking on her baby. She found her path blocked by Phoebe, who was staring at her with wide and unbelieving eyes. "What?"

Phoebe whistled slowly. "I can't believe you just did that, Piper!"

"Did what?" asked Piper with a confused tone of voice.

"You kicked Chris out of the manor! The kid is from the future and he only knows us! How can you do that?" asked the empathic with barely suppressed anger.

Piper stomped her feet on the floor. "I'm tired of that kid, Phoebe! He only lies and manipulates! I'm sure he sent Leo to Valhalla, he has brought demons to the house, and he's a danger to Wyatt and to us!"

"And didn't you see his face when you threw him out?" asked Paige quietly, walking a couple of steps to stand at Phoebe's side. At Piper's silence, the youngest sister continued. "He looked like he wanted to cry. I know you don't like him. I know that you think that it is his fault that you and Leo are separated, but you just can't go and stomp on his heart without a care in the world. You didn't even ask us what our opinion was!" she hissed.

"He ruined my birthday. He played David to make us turn against each other and then wanted to bind Wyatt's powers!" exclaimed Piper, surprised that her sisters were against her in this situation. Just a couple of days before they were tired of the annoying kid.

"I know what he did, Piper," Phoebe started to say, "and I don't want to bind my nephew's powers, and neither does Paige. But what I know, and I have been thinking about that for a little while, is that Chris is from the future, and he has said that the world where he comes from, it's pretty bad, so there must be a reason for binding Wyatt's powers or another reason for his presence in the past after saving Paige from the Titans, and I'd really like to find out."

"I still want him out of my house." Piper said, refusing to back down. Phoebe and she had a staring contest for a couple of minutes, until they heard Wyatt's cries coming from the baby monitor. Piper sighed and left the attic without a word to her sisters. They'd come to think like her sooner or later. That kid was a huge disturbance in their lives and it would be better if he didn't form a part of their lives anymore.

Phoebe let out a deep breath and turned to look at her baby sister.

"She will come around, you'll see." Paige told her sister, trying to calm her down.

"It's just that… my god Paige! I have never been able to sense a thing from him; he always wears an imperturbable mask and appears to be unfeeling. But tonight, when Piper said those things to him, I felt so… so much pain and betrayal from him, I just wanted to cry and cry just looking and him in those few seconds before he orbed out. And right now, I just want to make it better. Please say you understand me," She finished while looking at her sister with pleading eyes.

Paige smiled sadly. "I know what you mean. When I saw his face… something inside of me just broke. I know I haven't been the most supporting or caring towards him, but I don't hate him or wish him ill like Piper does. We should try to find him and try to make it better like you said."

Phoebe grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly in thanks. "Great! Can you sense him?" she asked her.

Paige closed her eyes and concentrated on the young whitelighter from the future. A few moments later she found him. "Found him. He's on the bridge." Both sisters orbed out of the manor with the hope of making things better for the boy.

**& & &**

Phoebe and Paige appeared on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge and the sight that was in front of them took their breath away. Chris was sitting cross-legged, and many tears were falling down his pale cheeks.

Phoebe felt her chest constrict and both sisters started walking slowly toward their whitelighter. Chris saw them and wiped his cheeks, embarrassed that the sisters had saw him cry, even if this was the first time that he cried in years. He was mad that they had caught him in one of his weakest moments so he prepared to orb away.

Phoebe saw this and hurried their pace. She squeezed her sister's hand tighter and touched the boy's shoulder. "Chris wait, don't go!" just as she finished saying the words, both she and Paige were pulled in a premonition.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_A teenaged Chris entered the manor wearing a dirty football uniform. He walked to the kitchen but found no one. Then he walked to the conservatory and his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent scream. He took on a run and reached Piper's side in a couple of seconds. The woman had two athame wounds and she was lying on a pool of blood. Chris reached for her and tried to heal her, but the woman was already dead. The boy let out a primal scream of pain, horror and loss. _

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Phoebe after pulling out of the premonition. She stared at Chris but he was just staring through her, unaware of the premonition she just had. She turned her eyes to her sister and saw that Paige had misty eyes, just like her. She had seen it too. Somehow she had managed to pull Paige into the vision.

Oh God! What a premonition! She just had seen her older sister's death. She felt her heart might break in a zillion pieces just at the thought of losing yet another sister. But that wasn't the most shocking part of the vision. No. The vision didn't have sound, but it was easy to read Chris' lips. He was calling Piper mom. He was Piper and Leo's son.

A loud sob escaped her lips when the realization hit her full force. Chris was her nephew! And they had mistreated him in the past four months since he arrived to the past. She felt her legs starting to betray her, and Paige steadied her.

Paige dug her nails in Phoebe's wrist, and her sister didn't produce a sound, she was in a world of her own, where her emotional pain was enough to drown her. A couple of tears leaked through her eyes. Phoebe's loud sob and weak knees had confirmed her suspicions. Not only was Piper going to die, but Chris was her nephew. A nephew that the entire family had wronged many times in the past few months. She knew that the kid had lied and manipulated, but now that she knew his identity, she just wanted to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness, for another chance to make it right, to make him happy and not see his devastated expression like she was seeing him now and like she had saw him in the attic.

"Oh Chris!" wailed Phoebe while she clutched Chris' shoulder, afraid that he would orb away and leave them.

"What do you want, Phoebe?" asked the young man, lifting his eyes and staring at his aunts. His breath caught in his throat. He knew that when she touched him, she had had a premonition, but he was in so much pain that he just didn't care. But now he cared. Both sisters were staring at him with so much pain and longing. Like… like they knew his secret. His face paled at the thought.

Phoebe saw his expression and slowly sat at his side. She desperately wanted to embrace him and keep him safe from any external or internal pain, just like she did with baby Wyatt, and just like she'd do with her children. She reached for him but at the last moment pulled away, afraid of his reaction. "I-I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

He sat straighter and saw her with narrowed eyes. "Why are you calling me sweetheart?" he practically hissed. He just knew it. They had somehow found out through the premonition. And that just put him on the offensive.

Phoebe opened her mouth to respond but she couldn't. Her nephew's facial expression had changed in a matter of seconds. He was staring to her as if daring her to say it aloud.

Paige sat at her side and decided to take the bull by its horn. "We know, Chris. Why didn't you just tell us? It'd have been so much easier!" she said softly, trying to calm him down.

"Easier for who?" he asked back.

"For you! For us!" exclaimed Phoebe. "We'd never have treated you this way if you'd have told us that you are our nephew. We hurt you and mistrusted you, Chris!"

"I know, I was kind of there when the lot of you insulted me and mistrusted me," he said dryly.

"And you can't possibly know how sorry we are, sweetheart. Please, Chris, I'm begging you, let us make it better. Let us earn your forgiveness and love. Please give your mother a chance to fix her mistakes," said Phoebe while new tears streamed down her face.

"She's not my mother!" he practically yelled. He couldn't accept that this Piper was his mother. There were many reasons. Not only could he not get close to her for fear of losing her a second time, but there was more to it. His mother… had been perfect. She had loved and cared for him. She had nurtured and raised him. She had never; ever said something hurtful to him. She'd never thrown him out of his house, or called him a manipulative little bastard or so many other hurtful things that this timeline Piper had called him. No… this Piper wasn't his mother. They were way too different.

"Chris…" Paige started to say, "don't deny that Piper is your mother. We saw when you held her and tried to heal her without success." Her voice broke at the last part.

Chris closed his eyes, remembering that fateful day. He was just fourteen, and he was finishing his 8th grade year. He had been playing football since he was nine years old, and the coach of the high school varsity team wanted him as the quarterback of the team in the fall, even if he was going to be just in 9th grade and a freshman. He arrived to the manor excited with the prospect of playing with the big guys, including Wyatt. He wanted to share the news with her. What he had seen in the conservatory had erased any football thought from his mind. His beautiful mother lay in a pool of her own blood. He had tried to save her, but she was already gone. That was the first time in his life that his healing power had failed him. He thought that his sensing power had failed him too, because he hadn't sensed anything amiss. But he later found out that there was a magical block in the house, so neither he, nor any other whitelighter in the family would sense anything until his mother was dead.

Chris took a deep breath to calm down and then stared at his aunts. "I'm not born yet, so she isn't my mother yet." He paused for a couple moments, debating how much he should say. After a minute or so, he decided that the damage was already done, and in that precise moment, his emotions were too battered to care about future consequences or any other shit. "She's not my mother because the mother of fourteen years that I remember and dearly miss would never do or say the things that the Piper from this timeline has said and done to me." He took another long pause. "I'm not saying that I'm a saint or something like that, nothing could be further from the truth. But I haven't done such horrible things in this timeline to warrant that treatment. All my life, I saw how all of you dealt with demons and human beings. Since I arrived, Piper, Leo… and in a lesser way the two of you have treated me like I'm the Source reincarnated. Like I came to destroy your happy and perfect lives. I'm not. I didn't even want to come to the past in the first place," he finished with a wistful expression.

"You didn't want to save me?" asked Paige in a surprised and hurt tone.

Chris smirked. "That was just a smoke screen. You weren't killed by the Titans. Making Leo turn you into goddess was the only way I could think of getting into your lives."

"So you sent Leo to Valhalla?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"I can't tell you that," he quipped.

Paige scowled at him. "Can't tell us or won't tell us?"

The smirk disappeared from his face. "I won't tell you."

Paige opened her mouth to argue, but Phoebe cut in. "Why didn't you want to come back in the first place?"

Chris exhaled loudly. "Time travel is… tricky. I didn't know if I'd be able to be around you and not break down. And I… I'm no hero, and I didn't want to have the future of the world on my shoulders. It's a heavy load and I don't know if I'll be able to reach my goal."

"What's your goal? Why do you have the future of the world resting on your shoulders?" asked Phoebe quietly, partly afraid of the answer. How horrible could be Chris' world?

Chris closed his eyes and snorted in disgust at himself. He had talked too much. "Future consequences."

"Chris, please, we just want to help you. Please, tell us at least this," Paige pleaded, desperate to help him.

Chris put his head on his knees, confused, tired and annoyed. He wanted the conversation to stop. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare and find out that Piper hadn't threw him out of the house, or that his aunts hadn't figured out his secret. This was getting harder and harder by the minute. After a long pause, he tried to get out of the situation. "Never mind, you won't believe me anyway," he mumbled.

"We will believe you!" stated Phoebe.

"Phoebe is right, Chris. We will believe and help you to achieve your goal. Just… tell us."

Chris snapped. "Fine! You want to know what my goal is? It's stopping Wyatt from turning evil!"

"What?" Paige breathed.

"That's right. I didn't come to save you from the Titans, or protect Wyatt from some evil demon. I came to stop Wyatt from becoming the greatest source of evil. I came to stop the death of millions of innocents. Are you happy now?" he finished and exhaled slowly.

"B-b-but how? Wyatt is… the Twice Blessed, the greatest source of good, the prophesized child!" Phoebe said in a rush, barely able to comprehend the reality of Wyatt and Chris' future.

Chris got up and started pacing on the beam. "Wish I knew, Phoebe. What I know is that Wyatt was kidnapped before his second birthday and the seed of evil was planted in him. I don't know who or how or where. That's why I came so many months before and have been chasing demons relentlessly."

Paige hung her head in shame. She had called him a neurotic freak many times in the last months. Now she knew why he was so neurotic about demon hunting and wished that she'd have been by his side since the beginning. She squared her shoulders and locked eyes with him. She'd help him from now on. She wouldn't let that awful future come to pass. Wyatt wouldn't be evil, and Chris wouldn't risk his life anymore. She'd be there for him and chase every demon away. No one would touch either of her nephews. "From now on, Chris, you'll take me with you to the underworld. I'll help you to catch whatever demon is after Wyatt. You won't have to do it alone anymore, ok?"

Chris didn't answer her. The role reversal was incredible. Now both of the sisters wanted to help him and love him and care for him. He wasn't ready for that. The silence indicated to him that his aunt was waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry, but I usually go to the underworld alone. I only ask for your help when it's necessary to use the Power of Three."

"Well, things change, Chris. You're our nephew, our responsibility. Besides, whether you like it or not, Piper is your mother and she won't let you go to the underworld alone. It's too risky," Paige answered.

Chris whistled. "First of all, I'm twenty two. Neither of you can order me around. Second, Piper won't say anything because neither of you will tell her what you found out tonight."

Both sisters cried out in dismay. "We can't do that, Chris," Paige said.

"Piper has a right to know!" Phoebe added.

"I said no! It's my life and it's my secret." At their disbelieving stares, he tried another route. "Didn't you want to make it better? To earn my forgiveness and all that?" They nodded slowly, realizing where he was going. "Well, I won't forgive you if you go and confess my secret to either Piper or Leo. That won't make it better or make me happier. It will make it a thousand times worse. So, please, if you really want to help me, don't say anything to them. I have enough on my plate… I couldn't deal with that too." He finished giving them a look that he knew would convince them. They have never been able to say no to that look while he was growing up.

Phoebe and Paige looked at each other and sighed. They couldn't say no to him, not if they wanted to have a chance at redemption, a chance to love him and get to know him.

"Ok, Chris, we won't say any of this to your parents. But in charge, you'll receive our help, ok?" Paige said.

"Ok ok, whatever. I will accept your help. But not now, I just want to rest, ok?"

"Ok sweetie. Do you need anything?" asked Phoebe.

"No thanks. I will just go," he said warily. He felt really tired and wanted to sleep for twelve hours in a row. Out the corner of his eye, he saw that the girls wanted to hug him or kiss him, but he wasn't ready for that. With a last glance at them, he orbed to P3.

A couple of minutes later, both sisters embraced tightly, too overwhelmed with all the discoveries they had made in the last hour. Piper's future death, Chris' identity, Wyatt's evilness… what more? It was hellish and they didn't know what they could do to stop Wyatt from becoming evil and stop Piper's death. What they knew was that they'd be there for Chris, whether he liked or not. They knew too that that was easier said than done. But they'd give their best try.

Chris was family and that was the most important thing to the Halliwells. Family.

"_To be continued…"_

AN: Please review ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

**Summary:** So many secrets, manipulations and half-truths. Christopher Perry's life in the past suffer many changes after Piper throws him out of the Manor. AU of season six. Chris revelation story.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** this is an AU of season six. I took the liberty to play with the order of the episodes and other things. For example, 'Sword in the City' and 'Chris-Crossed' hasn't happened yet. Piper and Leo are separated but not divorced. Paige and Phoebe are living in the manor. The family doesn't know that he is half witch half whitelighter. Piper isn't dating Greg or any other guy. The story will start after 'Prince Charmed', but Chris hasn't told them about Wyatt being evil. Piper threw him out of the house because he tried to convince them to bind Wyatt's powers and the chaos of the birthday and all that.

**AN:** Thanks for the reviews. Here's the second chapter, I hope you enjoy it. 

This chapter was beta'ed by the awesome **Evil Amplified**. Love you, hon!

**Chapter 2**

_*The next morning__. Sunday, december 7__th__, 2003*_

Paige finished her third cup of coffee in an hour. She stared at the kitchen window and sighed deeply. She hadn't slept a wink the previous night, too overwhelmed with the information that she and Phoebe had found out.

She wanted to cry every time she remembered Chris' devastated face when Piper threw him out of the house or when he was on the bridge. It was such a raw pain that made her want to embrace him and sooth his fears and pain. Now that she knew who he was, she wanted to care for him and protect him from every possible evil in the world.

She now felt for him as much as she felt for Wyatt. It was an immediate love and need to protect. They were her nephews and she had already failed once with her youngest one. She was not going to fail again; she was going to be there for him. Now if he would just answer her calls; if he weren't so afraid of Piper's reaction if she saw him in the house.

She stood up and went to the coffee machine, intent on drinking a fourth cup of coffee. A few moments later Phoebe arrived in the kitchen with huge bags under her eyes.

"Hello sweetie," greeted Phoebe with a huge yawn.

"Hi! Do you want coffee?" asked Paige.

"Yes, please. Thank God it's Sunday, so no work for me. I didn't sleep at all last night."

"Tell me about it," Paige said dryly. She grabbed the two cups and handed her older sister the precious liquid. "What an awful night."

Phoebe took the cup and drank a bit. Both sat and stayed in silence for a few minutes. Finally the oldest broke the silence. "Where is Piper?"

"She took Wyatt to the Golden Gate Park. Said she wanted to enjoy her free time and have a special time with her baby."

"She's still mad at us for defending Chris and she's really spooked about yesterday's events," Phoebe translated.

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it." Both sisters lapsed in another long silence.

"We have failed him so much…" Phoebe started to say in a quiet tone, her eyes misty while she stared at her sister. "Somehow, we should have known he was family."

"Yeah… talk about blindness. He knows his way around the house, he looks like Piper and has the Halliwell neurosis," Paige agreed.

"And don't forget he was the only one who knew that those blond bimbos weren't us."

"Will he…?" Paige started to ask. She tried to talk again, but didn't know how to express her feelings. After a few moments she settled for a mumbled, "I'm scared."

"Scared of what? Of Chris?" asked Phoebe.

"No… It's just… I don't know! What if he thinks that we love him just because we found out he's our nephew? I don't want him to think that we love him by default," she finished saying in a frustrated tone.

"I understand what you're saying. But it's not exactly like that. I guess that love has many levels. And right now we're experiencing the first level, you know? Just like when we found out that Piper was pregnant, we loved Wyatt immediately, and in the last months we have come to love our baby nephew more and more, because we've got to know him. So… what I'm saying here is that we don't love him by default. Our love for him is only starting, and it will get bigger when we get to know him and bond with him."

"Do you think that that will happen anytime soon?" Paige asked with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Phoebe shrugged and finished her cup of coffee. "I don't know, but I hope it will be soon. I don't want to lose more time. And besides, we have to help him with Wyatt's situation."

"Yeah, I know. I have been calling him for the last hour, but he's not answering." Paige's shoulders sagged. "Maybe he doesn't want to be with us."

Phoebe sighed. "Maybe he's sleeping, he looked pretty tired last night. Or maybe he's busy. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Paige stood up and carried the cups to the sink. "Yeah, you're right. It's just that… I feel so much guilt and pain that I want to make it better. I _need_ to help him and be there for him."

"I know sweetie, me too. But I guess that we'll have to give him time and let him set the pace. We can't force him."

Paige agreed and busied herself with washing the cups. She just hoped that they'd bond with Chris soon.

**& & &**

_*Three days later__. Wednesday, december 10__th__, 2003* _

"What?" Chris asked sulkily when he was pulled from his thoughts on one of the highest beams on the bridge.

Paige sat by his left side and Phoebe sat if front of him, careful of the border of the beam. "Well," Paige started talking in a dry tone. "We've been calling you for the past three days, and you haven't answered. So, since this is the first time in days that I've been able to sense you, we took our chance," she finished with a smirk.

Chris scowled at her. "Well, I think that the fact that you couldn't sense me, it was a pretty good hint that I want to be left alone."

"Chris, we can't do that. We said that we were going to help you with the threat to Wyatt, and if we can't see you, we can't work together," Paige said in a no nonsense tone.

"I can do it fine on my own. I don't need you," Chris answered starting to feel overwhelmed with his aunts' insistence.

"Chris, we're family," Phoebe said simply.

Chris turned his scowl at her. "Well, we weren't family last week. Why don't we just go back to that state of affairs?"

Both sisters darted their eyes from him in shame and guilt. They were never going to forgive themselves for their mistreatment of the boy in front of them. Finally, after a minute or so in silence, Phoebe opened her mouth again. "Chris, we are never going to forgive ourselves for the way we treated you…"

"You didn't know who I was, there's nothing to feel guilty for," the boy said quietly.

His words surprised the sisters. Of course they were going to feel guilty. Besides, when they had found out about his secret, he had practically accused them of abusive behaviour, and now he wasn't. It was really perplexing and it showed that the kid had issues and a difficult personality.

Phoebe decided to treat this subject carefully. "Honey, just a few nights ago you told us that we all have mistreated you, and I could feel a lot of resentment and pain coming from you."

Chris took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He focused on the sky and the rising stars to calm down his rattled and confused emotions. He saw his aunts out of the corner of his eye, and found that they were waiting patiently for his response. He decided to try to explain it to them and started to speak slowly, turning his gaze to the sky so he couldn't see them anymore. "You see, I don't really know what I'm feeling. Sometimes, I want to scream abuse at every one of you for the harsh words and hateful stares. But other times, I _feel_ that I deserve them, because I sent Leo to Valhalla and got into your lives uninvited. I have lied to you and manipulated you, so I guess that I deserved every hateful word."

Paige touched his forearm and drew calming circles on it. "You haven't deserved our mistreatment. You were right, you know? We've treated demons better, but now we're trying to rectify the situation. And about the lying and manipulating…" she tilted her head to the side. "We now know that you did it for a reason." She squeezed his arm and he looked at her questionably. "You turned into our whitelighter to be closer to Wyatt, to protect him better. You have forced us into vanquishes at all hours of the day in the hopes of finding the demon that turns Wyatt. Am I wrong?"

He smiled shyly and answered in a quiet tone. "No, you're not." He took a long pause, trying to arrange his thoughts in some semblance of order. "About the situation with Wyatt… I don't really know what I'm doing, or if I'm doing something right. It's like searching for a needle in a haystack. As I said before, I only know that he was kidnapped before his second birthday, and that event somewhat turned him evil in the future."

Phoebe and Paige closed their eyes in pain; they still had some trouble comprehending this. Paige managed to put her pain in the back of her mind and decided to approach the subject with a logical mind. "So… was he evil since childhood?" she asked.

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "No… he was 'normal' for many years, that's why noone in the family realized something was amiss. Sure, he did a lot of mischief, but nothing alarming. He was sixteen when he started to go of the rails and the darkness started to take him in." The look of pain on his face when he said the last words clued the sisters in.

"Piper's death was a turning point, right?" she asked softly, partly afraid of his answer.

Chris tried to find his voice again, but couldn't, so he only nodded.

They lapsed into silence for a couple of minutes, the sisters trying to digest this new information and Chris trying to rein in his emotions. Starting to get uncomfortable, Chris decided to leave. "Look, this has been really interesting and all that jazz, but I must go." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Paige while she and her sister stood up as well.

Chris was going to say that is was not her business, but thought better. Even if he was not very comfortable with this new development, he didn't want to lose this new bond or truce, or whatever he had with his aunts, entirely. "I have a meeting with a high level demon in the underworld."

Both sisters tensed at his words. He could see they were worried for his security. This confused him even more. On one hand, he didn't want this, but on the other hand, it was comforting to have someone who cared for him again. Sure, he still had people in the future, but he had already been in the past for five months, and didn't know if he was going the see them ever again.

"We will go with you to the underworld," Phoebe said with her head held high, daring him to refuse her.

Chris smiled softly at her and Phoebe felt she could melt with those smiles. "Look, I really appreciate that, and I know I said that you could help. But right now you won't be able to come with me." He raised his hand to stop their protests. "I have met with Xanchek four or five times, and I have posed as a darklighter. My cover would be blown up if I suddenly arrived with two of the Charmed Ones." They scowled at him but didn't say anything. "I promise I will be careful," he said, trying to ease their disappointment.

Paige relented. "Fine, we won't go with you this time. But we don't like this. You are half whitelighter and could get hurt with a darklighter arrow or something."

"Look, Paige, I've been doing this for a long while. I know how to do it." At her unbelievable look, he continued. "It's not easy, but you learn to do it. In my future, it has helped my survival."

Both sisters felt a pang in their hearts at the reminder of the future, which their nephew came from. Phoebe stepped in, "Ok, ok. Be careful. And… could you stop by later in the night?" she asked hopefully. This entire conversation had been really helpful, but she needed to bond more with her grown up nephew.

"Piper threw me out, remember?" he asked with a light tone, but the girls could see that behind his façade laid a deep hurt.

Phoebe scowled at the thought of her sisters' harsh words. "We're working on that, by the way." She paused. "Ok! What about P3? You're still living in the back room, right?"

He smirked. "Yeah, I still live there. I guess your sister is not so cold hearted to throw me out on the streets." Both girls winced at his words; he really didn't accept this timeline Piper as his mother. Piper was going to be crushed when she found out. Chris noticed their wince but ignored it. "Hmm, I'm busy tonight. These meetings can be really long."

"Tomorrow then?" asked Phoebe with an eager tone.

Chris stared at her amusedly. "You really want to spend time with me, don't you?"

"Yes!" the sisters cried.

Chris chuckled and the sound warmed his aunts' hearts. "Err… what about Friday night? I'll find some time in my busy schedule to spend time with you. Is that ok?"

"That's fine by me. Jason is in Hong Kong so I'm dateless." She turned to her sister with a big smile on her face. "Paige, what about you?"

"I will call Richard and reschedule our date." She winked at Chris. "Anything to get some bonding time with this dear nephew of mine," she quipped.

Chris smiled at them and waved his hand. "It's a date, then." The girls nodded and he orbed out of the bridge.

**& & & **

_*A few hours later*_

Chris sipped his beer and watched around the bar. He was seated in one if the hottest bars in the Underworld, dressed in all black and posing as a darklighter. He had been doing this for years. First, he had glamoured himself in his own timeline, during his time as the Resistance's highest spy in Wyatt's ranks. And now he didn't feel the need to glamour himself because he was in the past and very few magical beings knew the Charmed Ones' new whitelighter personally.

He took a look at his watch and realized that Xanchek was running late, very late. They were supposed to meet at 9 pm, but it was almost 11 pm and there wasn't any sign of the demon. He shrugged his shoulders and finished his beer.

He didn't know if Xanchek was the demon that he was looking for. But, what he did know was that the demon was a threat, either to Wyatt or the Charmed Ones. Xanchek was a powerful high-level demon who wanted to ascend to the Source's throne. He wanted to find out as much information available about this guy.

He waited for fifteen more minutes, but the demon didn't appear in the bar. He stretched his muscles, stood up and threw some coins on the table. He gazed at his surroundings one last time before retiring swiftly.

Chris walked at a fast pace for a few minutes, wanting to get away from the bar and orb safely to his room in P3. He took a couple of turns and orbed away, without realizing that he was being followed.

**& & &**

_*Xanchek's cavern, midnight*_

Xanchek stepped out of the shadows and lifted his red hood. He watched his surroundings and started to walk. A few moments later, he stopped in front of a group of large and pointy rocks. "Raise!" he exclaimed.

Nothing happened for a few moments. Then, one of the rocks started to change at a slow pace, until a thin and bald man with yellow teeth stood where previously stood one of the rocks. "My liege" the man said with respect.

"Did you follow the darklighter?" Xanchek leered while he stared at his minion with barely conceived contempt.

"Yes, my liege. I found some interesting information," said the man who then paused for effect.

The higher-level demon didn't have much patience and an energy ball appeared in his right hand. He raised one eyebrow and the minion eyed the energy ball nervously. "So?" asked Xanchek.

"Well… you see…" The man was really nervous. "The kid is not a darklighter! His orbs are blue and white!" he said in a rush.

Xanchek paused. Had he been played this past week? He extinguished the energy ball and formed fists with both hands. He was getting furious with this information. "Anything more, Caleb?"

"Yes, my liege. The whitelighter," he said this last world with disgust. "Orbed to P3, the oldest Charmed One's nightclub."

Xanchek's eyes opened a bit. So this kid had definitely played him and most probably was the Charmed One's new whitelighter. This was pretty interesting and irritating. He had been played by an infuriating and disgusting whitelighter. He wanted to send a darklighter immediately and end the bastard's life. He opened his mouth to order that, but closed it again and thought better of it. He wanted to know why the kid was playing at being a darklighter. He wanted to destroy him with his bare hands. Yeah, he would wait a bit.

"Caleb, you'll follow him day and night. You'll report with me on Saturday morning. Don't fail me. Don't get caught. Don't shape shift into the same object again or you will be discovered. Is that understood?"

The threat was easily heard and Caleb felt even more nervous. "Yes, my liege. I won't fail you." He saluted and shimmered out of the cavern.

"You will pay for your lies, boy," Xanchek said to the darkness of the cavern.

"_To be continued..."_

**AN2:** Don't forget to review, please ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**Summary:** So many secrets, manipulations and half-truths. Christopher Perry's life in the past suffer many changes after Piper throws him out of the Manor. AU of season six. Chris revelation story.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** this is an AU of season six. I took the liberty to play with the order of the episodes and other things. For example, 'Sword in the City' and 'Chris-Crossed' hasn't happened yet. Piper and Leo are separated but not divorced. Paige and Phoebe are living in the manor. The family doesn't know that he is half witch half whitelighter. Piper isn't dating Greg or any other guy. The story will start after 'Prince Charmed', but Chris hasn't told them about Wyatt being evil. Piper threw him out of the house because he tried to convince them to bind Wyatt's powers and the chaos of the birthday and all that.

**AN:** Thanks for the reviews. Here's the third chapter, I hope you like it. 

This chapter was beta'ed by the always wonderful **Evil Amplified**.

**Chapter 3**

_*Thursday morning__. December 11__th__, 2003* _

Chris orbed quietly into the manor, he blocked himself off so neither Paige nor Leo would sense him. While he laid in bed last night, he had an epiphany about another lead, so he needed to check the Markou clan in the book. He really didn't think that the Markou clan would be powerful enough to pull off Wyatt's kidnapping in eleven months or so, but he couldn't brush them off either.

He entered the attic careful of not making a sound, then he closed his eyes and confirmed the sisters and Leo's presence in the house. All of them plus Wyatt were in the kitchen, probably having breakfast. He let out a breath and walked to the Book of Shadows, intent on finding information about the clan.

Five minutes later, he heard raised voices and realized that the sisters and Leo were having a fight. He tried to brush it off and go back to his reading, but after a couple of minutes he couldn't contain his curiosity.

Chris closed the Book and left the attic. He crept down the stairs quietly and stood a few feet from the kitchen, where he could hear the fight perfectly. They were fighting about him.

OoOoOoOoOo

Phoebe rubbed her temples, trying to scare off the upcoming headache. "Piper, I love you, you're my sister, but you're irrational about this."

"Of course I'm not irrational about this!" she nearly shrieked. Wyatt heard his mom and started to whimper in distress.

Leo picked his son and tried to calm him down. "It's ok, buddy, it's ok." Wyatt didn't calm down so Leo orbed him to the nursery, away from the madness.

After Leo left, the sisters continued their fight. "See! Now you're scaring Wyatt!" Piper said while she busied herself with the last preparations of breakfast.

"I'm not the one who is screaming," Phoebe retorted back.

Piper didn't respond for a while, she just finished cooking the eggs and bacon. Then she placed the food on the plates and sat at the table. Both Phoebe and Paige watched her incredulously. Leo chose that moment to orb in and saw the situation. He decided to be out of the fighting line so he sat quietly and started to eat.

"Piper…" started to say the middle sister.

"Stop it, Phoebe! I said I don't want that friggin' whitelighter in my house anymore!"

Phoebe and Paige rounded on Piper. "This is my house too. And Paige's too. And we have told you many times in the last few days that we want to give Chris another chance, and we want him in the house!"

Piper finished her glass of juice and put it back on the table with a lot of force. "Well, that's too bad. I'm the oldest and matriarch of the family. So if I say that Chris won't put a feet in my house, he won't! You and he should feel thankful that I haven't kicked him out of P3. I should do it."

"Why do you hate him so much?" asked Paige quietly, her heart going out to her nephew. She thanked God that the kid wasn't there, so he wouldn't hear his mother's callous words.

"Do you want me to make a list, Paige?" Piper didn't wait for a response. "Fine! I will give you one. First, he comes from the future, refusing to give information about his life or mission in the past. Then, he tricks Leo into becoming an Elder and then sends him to Valhalla. He's the reason of my marriage is a failure. Then he forces us to go on vanquish after vanquish, without a care of our personal lives or needs or wants. He always lies and manipulates. And just last Saturday, he almost convinced us to bind Wyatt's powers and made us fight!"

Paige opened her mouth to give an angry retort, but Phoebe put her hand on her arm and squeezed tightly. "Leave it," she murmured so only Paige could hear her. "She will regret her words sooner or later."

"It's like talking to a wall!" Paige murmured back. "I just want to shake some sense into her!"

Piper raised her gaze and said, "You know, it's rude to murmur that way in front of others." Neither Paige nor Phoebe said anything. "Aren't you going to eat? You're going to be late for work."

"I'll drink some coffee," Phoebe said, glaring angrily at her older sister.

"I'll buy something in the bakery." Paige responded.

"Hey! I made breakfast for everyone!" yelled Piper, mad at her sisters for refusing her food.

"Do whatever you want with it, I don't care," Paige said in a hard and unforgiving tone. With those words, she orbed to her room to prepare for her temp job.

Phoebe walked to the kitchen counter and served herself a cup of coffee, purposely turning her back to Piper. She was too mad with her sister, and she knew that Piper was going to be in a lot of pain when she found out Chris' real identity. She had been trying to make it better for everyone, but Piper was adamant and just plain cold hearted. She just hoped that Piper didn't do anything too horrible to her nephew. She wouldn't accept it.

OoOoOoOoOo

Chris rested his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He wanted to cry and punch something, but he would not do it. He should be used to Piper's hard and uncaring words, but he wasn't. Every time she said something hurtful, it cut deeply in his heart.

'_This is just Piper, not Mom. This is just Piper, not Mom. Mom would never say those words about you and you know it. She loved you deeply. This is not Mom.'_ He repeated this mantra a few times until he felt the pain lessen a little.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with the sound of footsteps. He focused on the sound and realized that Phoebe would appear in the hallway at any moment, and right now he didn't want to face anyone. He decided to take the risk and orbed away.

OoOoOoOoOo

Piper put the dishes in the sink with more force than necessary, she was really mad at her sisters for defending future boy. She just couldn't understand why they were defending him now. Sure, she had taken a violent dislike of him from the beginning, while her sisters had been more open minded and willing to give him a chance.

But who could blame her for disliking him? She heard a sigh and turned too see Leo, who was staring at her with a wistful expression. She dried her hands and sat in front of him. "What? Are you going to side with my sisters and say that I'm irrational?" she asked in an ironic tone.

Leo sighed again and took Piper's hand. He smiled a little when she didn't pull away. Maybe there was a chance for them yet. "Look, honey, you know I don't like Chris either. It hurt deeply when I had to leave you, Wyatt and your sisters to become an Elder. It angered me a lot that a kid was replacing me as your whitelighter. But… you didn't see him that night, Piper. After you threw him out of the house, I went to see him on the bridge. He looked… for lack of a better word, devastated. Your words really hurt him."

"What are you saying?" she started to ask in a defensive tone. "Are you saying that I should," she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Apologize to him?"

Leo diverted his eyes and focused on the window. His wife really had a problem with the boy. She really thought that Chris was set to destroy their lives or something. "I don't know, Piper. I really don't know. This subject is complicated. It's just that… your sisters _might_ be right, and we should give him another chance."

Piper stared at him incredulously. She couldn't believe that Leo was willing to give the interloper from the future another chance. Chris had done so many things to hurt him, to hurt her… and she still didn't trust him. What if he wanted to kill them or something? What if he had done something to her sisters? That would certainly explain Phoebe and Paige's change of heart.

She decided to keep silent and not touch the subject anymore, at least for the time being. She'd keep a close eye on her sisters and see if something was amiss.

**& & & **

_*Friday night__. December 12__th__, 2003*_

Chris appeared in the private bathroom of P3 and took off his clothes. A minute later he was in the shower and washing off the dirt and grime he had got into in the Underworld. He had been on a demon killing spree since the morning before, after he had heard Piper's uncaring words.

His recent activities had calmed him somewhat, but now he felt kind of nervous. He couldn't fight the feeling that he was being watched. Maybe his paranoia was getting worse by the minute.

A few minutes later he got out of the shower and dried himself. Then he got on a fresh pair of clothes and combed his wet hair. After that he orbed to the back room, where he could feel the presence of his two aunts. They'd kept their part of the bargain and were waiting for their 'date'. He smiled softly in greeting and the girls scowled at him.

Paige stood up and put her hands on her hips, then tapped her feet and frowned at him. "Where have you been, mister? It's almost 11 pm; we've been waiting for you for _ages_!"

Chris raised his arms in mock protest. "I'm sorry, ok? I got delayed in the underworld. But now I'm here so you can chill out."

"We were worried! We didn't know were you were, or if you were alive or dead. And would you quit that annoying habit of blocking us?" Phoebe said in a rush, much to the amusement of her nephew.

"Well, thanks for worrying about me, but I can take care of myself. I'm twenty two years old, an _adult_. And no, I won't quit 'my annoying habit of blocking you'. I like my privacy."

"Have you been in the underworld this entire time?" asked Paige worriedly.

Chris rolled his eyes in a long suffering manner. "If you must know, I have been in the underworld since Thursday morning. I went to the manor to check something in the Book and then went to the underworld."

Phoebe closed her eyes. "That was you." She murmured sadly.

"What?" Paige asked confused.

Phoebe didn't pay attention to her sister. She walked to her nephew and touched his cheek. She smiled softly when he didn't pull away. "You heard our fight, right? And then you orbed away. I heard the sound of orbing, but didn't want to believe that it was you," she finished sadly.

Chris lowered his eyes and answered in a quiet tone. "Yeah, it was me." He raised his eyes and saw that both girls were prepared to go into comforting mode. "No, it's ok. Really."

"Chris…" Paige started to say in a disbelieving tone.

"It's ok. I'm used to her words." Phoebe was surprised to realize that she was already starting to know his expressions. Now she could see that he was half lying. "As I said before, she's not my mother, so she can say whatever she wants."

Paige refused to let go of the subject. "Honey, we know you're lying."

"Paige, please! I don't want to talk about her, ok?" he pleaded with big sad green eyes and she melted.

"Ok honey. I'm sorry." She took a pause and Phoebe took Chris to the chair. Chris stared at them with confused eyes. Paige walked to the corner and pulled a plate from the night table. "Did you eat?"

"Err… no," he said lamely.

Paige smiled broadly. "Well, we will start our 'date' with your dinner. Homemade casserole!"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Did you make it?" he asked sceptically. She mouthed the word 'no'. Chris turned to Phoebe. "And you?"

"No. I don't like to cook."

Chris sighed and for a moment thought about refusing Piper's casserole. It was obvious that it was her food. Then his stomach grumbled and he decided to swallow his pride and stretched his arm to grab the plate.

Paige smiled at the gesture and gave him the dish, which he started eating promptly. Thank God for little spells to keep the dish at a warm temperature. Both sisters watched him fondly while he ate. The way he savoured each bite, it was obvious that it had been a long while since he enjoyed homemade food.

A few minutes later he finished his dish and felt much better. It had been delicious. Paige took the plate from his hand and he smiled at his aunts. "Thanks," he said simply.

Phoebe smiled broadly and ruffled his hair. Now that he wasn't refusing her touch, she planned to touch him as much as she wanted.

Chris scowled at her and fixed his hair. She smiled at him indulgently. The girls sat around him and stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, just enjoying each others company.

Finally Paige broke the silence. "Can we start our date now?" she practically whined.

Chris looked at her amused. "What do you have planned?"

"Let's play 20 questions!" she said with enthusiasm.

Chris' amusement faded. "Paige, you know I can't talk about the future…"

She cut him in. "Chill out, ok? We are not going to ask earth shattering questions, like if we are dead or not, or how many children do we have." She took a pause and shared a look with her sister. "We just want to get to know you. Is that too much to ask?" she finished innocently.

Both girls stared at him with puppy dog eyes and he couldn't refuse. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, as long as he only bonded with his aunts. He could take that. "Ok, ok! I give up. Fire away!"

"Ok!" both sisters cried and shook each other's hands in triumph.

"Ok, let's see," Phoebe started, excited because she was going to know him better. She decided to start with something simple. "What's your favourite colour?"

"Blue."

"Do you play some sport? Besides football, I mean," Paige asked.

"I started playing hockey when I was six. I played it till I was twelve. When I was 9 I started football." He smirked. "I was the quarterback."

Paige smirked. "So the popular kid, then."

He laughed. "You could say that. But Wyatt was more popular. I mean, he's almost two years my senior."

Phoebe studied him and saw that he didn't look too affected with his brother's mention. She smiled softly. "Those were good times, then."

He lowered his eyes and looked at his hands. "Yeah, I loved playing football. I quit when I was fourteen."

The silence was heavy, both sisters figuring out that he had quit after his mother's death. Paige decided to keep the conversation on the light side. "So, we now know that you like blue, hockey and football. Now, hmm let's see. If you have the chance to go to college, what career would you choose?"

Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I have never thought much about college." When he had been old enough to go to one, the world was hellish. "I like cinematography, photography, arts… stuff like that."

"You take after Prue, then," Phoebe said in a contemplative tone. "Before her death, she was working as a photographer."

Chris smiled sadly. "I know." He didn't say anything else; he knew that that was a hard subject for the sisters. "Anything else?"

"Watch it, mister. Don't think you're getting rid of us so soon," Paige retorted playfully. He smirked at her and she glared playfully at him. "Favourite book?"

"It hasn't been written."

"Damn," she said in a mock-disappointed tone.

"Well… I really like the Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Paige smiled. "A nephew after my own heart." She winked at him.

"Favourite food?" asked Phoebe.

"Pasta." He answered after a bit.

"Ha! A nephew after my own heart, too!" Phoebe said and stuck her tongue at Paige.

Paige rose to the challenge. "Favourite Aunt?" she asked while she glared at her older sister.

Chris smiled at their playful banter; it made him remember his childhood. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" asked Phoebe.

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Paige said dryly. "Favourite music?"

"Rock," he said immediately.

She smiled at him. "You're so my nephew."

Phoebe pouted. "I like rock too."

Paige rolled her eyes. "In your youth. Now you listen to pop and old singers." She smirked at her sister.

Phoebe wrinkled her nose and turned to her nephew. "At least you like lots and lots of chocolate, right?"

"Allergic." He smirked and she scowled.

Chris laughed out loud. "Pleaseeeeee, stop this annoying competition of who is the better Aunt."

Both sisters smiled like the Cheshire cat when he said the word 'aunt'. It swelled their hearts and gave them hope for the future.

"You know, that's a lovely word. You should say it more often." Paige said.

"Which word?" Chris asked.

"Aunt," she answered and he blushed. The sisters laughed.

During the next couple of hours they kept talking and even drank a few beers. They talked a little bit more about him and then talked about nothing and everything at the same time. Chris stared at his sixth beer and chuckled. "You know, I have not enjoyed myself in a long time. It's good to talk."

"Yeah," both sisters agreed with him. They had really spent a great time with him.

Chris finished his beer and put the bottle in the trash bin. Then he blinked a few times and yawned. "I think I'm getting tipsy."

"Ok, mister. No more alcohol for you. As your oldest Aunt I have to look out for your well being and now you're drunk."

Paige slapped her wrist. "Yeah, you're a bad aunt!" she quipped.

"Hey! You were here too. It's you fault too!" she protested.

"Whatever," Chris interrupted them. "I want to sleep." He yawned again. He longingly eyed the bed in the other corner.

Paige stood and made a quick decision. "Ok, honey, off with you to sleep. You're sleeping in my bed, ok?"

He stared at her incredulously. "What? No!"

"Oh yes, you are. This bed looks awful and my bed is nice and comfy. I will lend it to you for tonight and you will sleep like the little angel that you are." He blushed and his aunts laughed at his expense.

"Piper will have a fit," he said lamely.

Phoebe cut in. "We won't allow it, sweetie. That's our house too, so if we want to have you there, we will and she will have to accept it." He didn't look convinced. "Besides, it's three against one. I think Leo is on our side."

He scowled. "Don't even mention him," he growled.

Both sisters blinked several times, complete and utterly mystified at the sudden anger that radiated from him. "Do you have an issue with your father, sweetie?" Phoebe asked slowly, worried with his sudden mood change. It must be the alcohol, she decided.

Chris scowled and then closed his eyes, taking deep breath to calm down the sudden rage he had felt at his father's mention. He opened his eyes again and settled with an infuriating response. "I can't tell you that. Future issues."

The girls sighed at his annoying response, but decided to let it slide for the moment. They didn't want to have a heated discussion, the night had been perfect and they wanted to keep it that way.

Paige grabbed her sister's arm and her nephew's arm. "Ok, honey. My order still stands. Tonight you will sleep in my bed."

Chris smiled shyly, remembering his Aunt's bed from his childhood, he had taken many naps there and it was really comfortable. "Where will you sleep? And what if Piper discovers me?"

Paige waived her free hand, dismissing his worries. "Don't worry about anything, kid. I will sleep with Phoebe." She shared a look with her sister and Phoebe nodded in confirmation. "And about Piper…" she tilted her head to the side. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Okay?"

Chris relented. "Okay, okay. Let's get to sleep."

The girls smiled and Paige orbed them to the manor.

**& & & **

_*The next morning. Xanchek's cavern in the Underworld__. December 13__th__, 2003* _

Xanchek saw how Caleb shimmered out of his cavern and felt a huge rage. His minion had followed the kid for the past few days, and had discovered a lot of things. The kid was part whitelighter and part witch, and had been on a demon killing spree for almost two days. Then, he spent many hours talking with the younger Charmed Ones, and he called _them_ Aunts.

So, the kid was a Halliwell who came from the future. The Twice Blessed Child's little brother, most probably.

He made an energy ball and threw it at the wall in front of him. The kid would pay for his deception and would have to learn a lesson about getting his nose in other people's affairs.

A malicious smirk appeared on his dry lips. The kid's suffering would be a great opportunity to get to the all-powerful Charmed Ones. They'd be beside themselves worrying about their nephew, their son.

Yes, definitely an interesting development.

**& & &**

Piper washed the last plate and dried her hands. She turned and saw the empty table. Her sisters hadn't come to breakfast yet. She took a look at her watch. Almost 10 am. She knew the situation between them was delicate, and they hadn't talked much in the last few days, but they always, always, had breakfast together on Saturday mornings. It was a family tradition.

She sighed and walked out of the kitchen, intent on fixing the situation. She walked up the stairs and arrived at the second floor. She stood for a minute or two in front of the nursery, watching fondly as Leo played and changed Wyatt's clothes.

Even if they were separated, Leo was still around the house a lot of the time, and he was an amazing father to Wyatt. She smiled softly and walked past the nursery and knocked softly on Paige's door. She waited a few seconds but heard no response. She knocked again and waited. Nothing. Steeling herself to a confrontation, she grabbed the handle and opened the door. What she saw in her baby sister's room left her speechless.

There, in the bed laid her annoying whitelighter from the future, sleeping without a care in the world. Looking like he belonged there. Piper stood there for a while, not knowing what to do or say. Was her sister having sex with that boy? How could she? Then something clicked in her mind. That would explain the sudden change of heart in both her sisters. Chris had done some spell or something and was playing with Paige's mind. Sudden anger enveloped every cell in her body and a vase of flowers exploded on the night table.

Chris jerked awake, scared by the sound.

OoOoOoOoOo

Chris jerked awake by a loud sound near him. He felt completely disoriented. He warily opened his eyes and it took him a few seconds to realize that he was lying in Paige's bed. He groaned and closed his eyes, remembering the events of last night, the light conversation and all the alcohol he had drank. A headache was starting to develop behind his eyes.

He opened his eyes again and saw something in the door that took his breath away. Piper was standing there, her brown eyes blazing with anger and her hands raised in a defensive way. He opened his mouth to say something but his lips were too dry. He moistened them with his tongue and attempted to speak again. "Hmm… err… Piper…" was his intelligent response to the woman's anger and posture.

Piper growled. "How dare you!" she said in a low and dangerous voice.

Chris looked at her confused. "What?" he stammered.

Piper walked in a few paces and stood in front of him. She raised her voice. "You heard me perfectly, future boy! How dare you be here, in my house, when I threw you out last week!" she didn't give him a chance to respond. "You little, selfish, manipulating bastard! What are you doing to my sisters? Is it a spell? A potion?"

Chris flinched at her words and stood from the bed. "I don't know what you are talking about! If you just would calm down…"

"Calm down?" she nearly shrieked. She was going to keep yelling at him but was interrupted by the arrival of her sisters and husband.

"What is this all about, Piper?" asked Paige, while she and Phoebe took a protective stance in front of Chris. Phoebe put her hand in the small of his back and drew comforting circles.

Piper turned to her youngest sister and her anger scaled when she saw that Paige and Phoebe were protecting Chris. "Are you asking _me_ what this is all about? I'm the one who should be asking you!"

"Look, Piper…" Paige started to say but she was rudely cut off by her oldest sister.

"The stupid kid was sleeping in your bed! He's using you! There must be some spell or potion! I know you'd never willingly sleep with him!"

The faces of disgust that Paige, Phoebe and Chris made would have been funny in any other situation. "What!" exclaimed both Paige and Chris.

"How can you say that?" exclaimed Phoebe, moving her arms wildly.

Leo stepped in, trying to calm the situation. "We should sit down and discuss this situation in a logical way…"

Every other person turned to him and all but snarled "Shut up!"

Paige moved in front of Piper and poked her in the chest. "I don't know what you are talking about. I would never have sex with Chris. That's sick and wrong!"

"Why would that be sick and wrong?" Leo asked confused. Sure, the thought of his sister in law with the whitelighter was really perturbing, but he didn't think it was sick per se.

Chris shot his youngest aunt a pleading gaze, pleading her to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Paige nodded at him. "Well, he's way younger than me. So… it would be gross."

Piper opened her mouth again and Leo put a comforting hand on her arm. She really needed to calm down. "So, if you're not…" Leo resisted the urge to throw up. "_Together_, why was he sleeping in your room?"

Both Paige and Chris groaned and Phoebe rubbed her temples.

Chris answered. "That's none of your business."

"None of our business?" yelled Piper and Leo couldn't stop her. "Of course it is our business. This is my house and you are not welcome in it!"

"Back off, Piper!" Phoebe said.

"Watch it, woman! This is my house too and he is welcome whenever he wants," Paige practically yelled, her higher stature seeming imposing in front of Piper's smaller stature. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Besides, that awful bed at P3 is really uncomfortable and Phoebe and I wanted him to be comfortable at least for one lousy night," she finished lamely, knowing that their supposed 'reason' for him staying there wasn't good enough.

Piper frowned at them and stayed a few minutes in silence. Finally she broke the silence and said in a low voice. "You really are under a spell."

"What?" Paige asked flummoxed.

"I said that you both are under a spell." The oldest sister answered slowly. She started pacing the room and the rest of the occupants watched her with and odd expression. "That's the only explanation possible. You're defending him, helping him and now you're giving him your room! It's unbelievable!" She turned to Chris. "I can't believe you would sink so low," she nearly growled at him.

Chris looked at her like it was the first time he saw her. "I didn't do anything."

Piper's eyes glazed in anger again. "Of course you did! That's the only thing you do! You just like to torment us. And this is a new way of doing it. You have tried to manipulate us many times, but it doesn't always work. So now you're trying to win over my sisters with this new scheme. Well, newsflash mister; it won't work. I won't let you ruin us anymore." She took a pause and ignored the hurt and unbelieving stares of her sisters and husband. She saw the flicker of pain in the boy's eyes but thought nothing of it. "You only came to make our lives hell, didn't you?"

Chris' temper finally snapped. "No, woman. Apparently you're the one who is set to make my life hell in this timeline. I didn't come to make your life hell. I came to save the future from your evil, tyrant, son of a bitch, son!"

Silence. Complete and utter silence at his sudden declaration. Chris closed his eyes and groaned again, he was really putting his foot in his mouth once again. He didn't plan on saying that, it was just that… the woman in front of him was really tiring him with her insane accusations. He felt his aunts at his side and a very small smile appeared on his lips as a sign of appreciation. He opened his eyes and saw that both Piper and Leo were looking at him with wide and unbelieving eyes.

Piper couldn't believe her ears. Was this guy for real? How could he say that her precious baby was anything but good and perfect in the future? Wyatt was the Twice Blessed Child, he had a great destiny and he could never, ever be evil. Besides, neither she nor Leo would fail their son.

Leo couldn't believe his ears either. Just before this declaration, he was willing to give the boy a chance. But not anymore, now he just wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands for daring to suggest that his precious baby was evil in the future. That couldn't be, he wouldn't fail Wyatt.

"You are lying!" Piper exploded. "How dare you to imply that my baby is evil? You're the evil one!" she said while clenching and unclenching her hands, wanting to inflict bodily pain for his ill words.

Chris decided that he would have to come clean with them. "I wish I were lying, but sadly I'm not. Wyatt grows up to be evil, to take over the Underworld, expose magic and terrorize innocents, magical beings and mortals alike. He has been ruling the world with an iron fist for years, and millions of people have perished thanks to him," he retorted in a hurt and low tone, the pain of remembrance and past deeds was too much.

Piper shook her head violently, trying to block his words. When he finished talking, she snapped. She raised her hands and blew him up, feeling some satisfaction when his body went into thousands of little orbs. She faintly heard Phoebe and Paige's cries of dismay. Big was her surprise when the boy reformed again, falling on the floor between her sisters, a moan of pain escaping his lips and then he coughed up blood.

Leo's eyes opened as realization struck him. Chris wasn't a full whitelighter, and if he didn't heal him soon, the kid would die. He was severely pissed off with the kid. Even a few minutes ago he had wanted to rip him apart. But did he really want him to die? No, not really, or at least not in front of him, when he could have done something. A part of him wanted to rush to the kid and heal him, but the other part of him was frozen, completely overwhelmed with everything that had just happened.

Paige and Phoebe fell to their knees and tried to help Chris, who was moaning lowly in pain and a lot of blood was coming from his mouth and nose. He had severe internal injuries thanks to Piper's power. Both sisters felt tears in their eyes at seeing him in so much pain and in such a vulnerable state.

"Leo, heal him fast!" Phoebe cried while she caressed his bangs. Chris turned into her touch and she felt her heart breaking. She had failed him. Again.

Leo didn't move, he still felt paralyzed. Paige turned her teary eyes to him and screamed at him. "Damnit, Leo! If you don't heal him now he's going to die!" a couple of tears fell down her cheeks. "I will make you regret it for the rest of your pathetic life if you don't heal him now!" He didn't move. "NOW!" she shrieked and Leo was finally galvanized into movement.

He moved swiftly and sat at Chris' side. He saw his pained face and blurred eyes and felt something stir in his heart. He really didn't want the kid to die. The questions would come later, he needed to heal him know. He extended his hands in front of the boy's chest and felt the healing glow. The process was slow, but after a minute or so, Chris took a deep breath and the colour returned to his cheeks.

During all this process, Piper had stood motionless, completely mystified by everything. Apparently the kid was part witch, and she had almost killed him. She started to feel guilty. Sure, she despised him and the kid was horrible, but she didn't want to have his blood in her hands. She let out a breath when Leo finished his healing and saw how her sisters helped him to sit up on the floor. She met his gaze and felt her breath catch in her throat. There was so much pain, betrayal, hurt and resentment in his tumultuous green eyes.

She swallowed hard. "Chris, I'm so…"

He cut her rudely. "Don't! Don't ever say you're sorry because you're not." He stood up and waved his aunts concerns' away. "I will never forgive you for this," he said lowly. Then he orbed out.

Everyone stared at the spot where he was a second ago. Phoebe shook her head, too overwhelmed with everything. How could Piper do that? She had almost killed her own son.

Paige got out of her stupor and walked purposely and stood in front of Piper. "You selfish, ingrate, uncaring, imbecile, little bitch!" she yelled at her. Then she slapped her. Hard. Twice.

Everyone looked at her in shock. "Paige!" Leo cried in dismay. He tried to separate his sister in law from his wife but Phoebe stopped him.

Phoebe's eyes glazed in rage. "Go on, Paige. She deserves it!"

Piper finally found her voice and movement. She touched her red cheek and stared at her youngest sister, she couldn't believe that she had just slapped her. "You hit me."

Paige growled loudly. "And I should do it again and again! You almost killed your own son!"

"_To be continued" _

**AN:** I know. Evil cliffie! I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**Summary:** So many secrets, manipulations and half-truths. Christopher Perry's life in the past suffer many changes after Piper throws him out of the Manor. AU of season six. Chris revelation story.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** this is an AU of season six. I took the liberty to play with the order of the episodes and other things. For example, 'Sword in the City' and 'Chris-Crossed' hasn't happened yet. Piper and Leo are separated but not divorced. Paige and Phoebe are living in the manor. The family doesn't know that he is half witch half whitelighter. Piper isn't dating Greg or any other guy. The story will start after 'Prince Charmed', but Chris hasn't told them about Wyatt being evil. Piper threw him out of the house because he tried to convince them to bind Wyatt's powers and the chaos of the birthday and all that.

**AN:** Thank you for the reviews. I loved them all.

**Sarah**, I haven't been able to answer you because you don't have an account. Thank you so much for the kind words.

I hope all of you like this new chapter.

This chapter was beta'ed by the very pretty **Evil Amplified**.

**Chapter 4**

Piper's eyes widened at Paige's declaration. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of the water. She shook her head, thinking that maybe, just maybe she heard it wrong. Chris couldn't be her son, could he?

She turned her head and saw that Leo looked like her, like he had just received an electric shock.

Phoebe turned to Paige with an incredulous expression; she couldn't believe that her baby sister had spilled her nephew's secret. And she was the one who couldn't keep a secret. She turned her eyes to Piper, and realized that Paige did well in confessing the truth. Her older sister was seriously off the rails and needed a good shock.

Paige stood straight, her face betraying nothing of her inner turmoil. Chris was going to be pissed at her for betraying his trust, but she couldn't take Piper's attitude anymore.

After a couple of minutes of stunned silence, Piper finally found her voice. "W-w-what?" she stammered, looking at her baby sister, pleading with her sister to say that it all was a big cosmic joke, that she hadn't been horrible to her child so many times.

Paige smirked and her eyes blazed with rage. "That's right, Piper. You just blew up your own kid. How does it feel, huh? I bet it must give you a fuzzy feeling in your stomach to know that you almost killed your own son." She clenched her fists when she remembered Chris' pained face and moans. "You bitch, you almost killed _my_ nephew!"

Piper's knees buckled as she let out a scream of pain. Tears started to fall down her pallid cheeks and she sat on the floor. She raised her blurry eyes and saw that Leo had fallen at her side, a broken expression on his face. "H-how?" she asked with a raspy voice.

"Do you want me to explain the birds and the bees to you?" Paige asked in a sarcastic voice.

"A premonition," Phoebe responded in a hard tone. Although she was severely pissed of with her older sister and brother in law, she didn't want to drag on the conversation. She looked at Leo and saw his broken face. An internal voice said that he deserved it; after all, the guy almost didn't heal the boy.

Phoebe saw that the two of them stared at her with confused expressions and rolled her eyes. "Last Saturday, after _you_ threw him out of the house, Paige and I went after him. I touched him and had a premonition of him. He was calling you mom," she said in an unfeeling voice.

Piper closed her eyes and more tears fell down her cheeks. It was really true. Chris was her son. Wyatt's little brother. A loud sob escaped her lips and she started to hit the floor with her fist. She had treated him in such a horrible way. She had downright despised her own son. How could she? Her eyes opened when a thought hit her. _'I will never forgive you for this'_. He had said those words just before orbing out. She turned her body and hid her face in Leo's chest. In that particular moment she didn't think that she would ever stop crying. The pain, recrimination and guilt were too much. Her son hated her, and she completely deserved it.

Leo felt turmoil within him. This was too overwhelming. Chris was his son and he had treated him horribly. He closed his eyes in pain when he remembered Valhalla, how he had put a sword to his son's throat. How he had beaten him that same day. How he had tried to get his wings clipped and his soul recycled. Every terrible deed came back to haunt him and he felt his heart break into a zillion pieces. He had harmed his son in many ways. How was he ever going to make up for it? How was he going to face him? He didn't deserve his forgiveness or his love. He was a terrible person and deserved pain.

He was pulled out of his painful thoughts when he felt Piper's head on his chest. He tried to find words to comfort her, but couldn't. He couldn't even comfort himself, how could he comfort anyone else?

"What are we going to do, Leo? I screwed it up badly and he hates me! How didn't I see it? How didn't I recognize my own son?" her voice was muffled by Leo's shirt.

Phoebe couldn't help feeling a pang of pain at her sister's words. She wasn't the only guilty party there. All of them were at fault. She turned her eyes to her youngest sister and saw that Paige was unrelenting. She was not going to sympathize with neither Piper nor Leo yet. She was too upset.

The middle sister sighed and sat at Piper's side. Piper felt her presence and looked at her, prepared for more yelling and recriminations. Phoebe started to talk in a pained voice. "We all are at fault, Piper. We didn't recognize him when it was obvious that he was family. The way he looks, acts, talks, moves. It just screams Halliwell and we didn't see it. We didn't _want_ to see it. We didn't see past his devious behaviour." She took a breath and was cut off by Paige.

"I'm going to go talk to him." She turned her sharp eyes to her brother in law. "Don't you dare follow me or look for him." With those harsh words, she orbed out of the manor.

"Why didn't he tell us? It would have been so much easier…" Leo said brokenly a few minutes after Paige's exit.

Phoebe closed her eyes in pain. "You know, Paige asked him the same thing when we found out his identity. We said that we would have never treated him badly if we would have known who he was." She paused and more tears fell down her cheeks. "He said that all his life he had seen how we dealt with demons and human beings; and that since his arriving in this timeline he had been treated as if he was the Source reincarnated."

The distraught parents felt even more pain at Phoebe's words. "Why didn't you tell us, Phoebe? Why didn't you stop me from hurting him?" Piper asked desperately.

Phoebe's eyes blazed in anger at this. "I tried, Piper. Paige tried too." She couldn't hide the resentment she felt in that moment. "We spent the entire week trying to make it better, trying to convince you to give him a chance. And you just didn't. You kept talking about how much you hated him." The couple hung their heads in shame and pain. "And you know what? Do you remember Thursday morning? When you gave us a list of reasons to hate him? He heard every single word." She stretched every word. "He was here and heard you. His own mother talking about how much she hated him." She moistened her lips and dried her puffy eyes.

"I don't hate him," Piper said in a tiny voice.

Phoebe scoffed. "I don't know if he will believe you. I think he's quite pissed off at you at the moment. Besides, it's not everyday that a mother tries to blow her son up," she said harshly. Her emotions were running wild. One moment she wanted to forgive and comfort her sister and the next moment she wanted to throttle her.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Piper cried while she stood and started to pace the room in anguish.

"The truth hurts, huh?" she retorted. "I'm not going to stop yet, Piper. I'm not going to forget my nephew's pain and bloodied face anytime soon. I'm not going to forget that if Leo hadn't moved, Chris could have died. I'm not going to forget that Paige and I tried many times this last week to make you see reason, but you refused to see anything past your nose and then suggested that he and Paige were having sex. Talk about disgusting."

"Then you should have told me who he was!" she nearly choked on her tears and Leo stood up to embrace her again.

Phoebe took a deep breath in a vain intent to calm down. "He pleaded with us to keep his secret. He didn't want any of us to find out his secret. He actually asked us to forget who he was and then convinced us to keep his identity a secret."

"Why?" Leo asked, his heart breaking again at the thought that his son didn't want them to know who he was.

Phoebe closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Her head was beginning to hurt again. "Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore, ok? I have a headache. I'm worried about my nephew and I am still seriously mad at the both of you." Without giving them a chance to protest, she swiftly left the bedroom and went to take a shower, in the hopes that she would feel better afterwards. Besides, she had to do something to take her mind off of Chris and Paige's conversation.

Piper and Leo were left alone in Paige's bedroom, both in their private hell where past words and actions were haunting them.

**& & &**

Paige orbed to the backroom in P3 and found her nephew sitting on the bed, with his head in his hands and a forlorn expression on his face. Her heart went out to him and she walked slowly to him.

Chris raised his head and locked eyes with his aunt. He saw her tears and swallowed. Paige grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm so sorry, little angel," she said and he smiled softly, remembering his childhood nickname.

Chris sighed and closed his eyes, squeezing his aunt's hand. "I… I don't want to talk about it, ok? I don't want to see her, or talk to her for a while." He paused trying to arrange his thoughts and feelings. "I'm too disappointed, I guess."

"You have every right to be mad and disappointed, little angel, but she will want to see you sooner than later."

"Why?" he stared at her with confusion and a little bit of fear.

She swallowed, knowing that he'd get mad at her and most probably would feel betrayed. "I-I told them," she murmured and Chris barely heard her.

When the words registered in his brain his eyes' widened. "Why did you do that? Why?" he asked with a pained voice and more tears fell down Paige's cheeks.

"I had to. I couldn't take her attitude anymore. She was hurting you too much with her harsh words and then almost…" her breath caught in her throat. "She almost k-k-killed you." She paused to compose herself. "She needed to be stopped."

Chris stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, trying to force the anxiety, pain and dread that he was feeling to the back of his mind. They knew that he was their unborn child. What was he going to do from now on? He didn't want to face them. He didn't want to face their excuses and sorry apologies. It was so different with his aunts. They hadn't been mean to him and they had tried many times to be helpful. But not Piper and Leo. They had gone out of their way to be spiteful to him and now they knew his identity.

He felt so emotionally drained that he didn't know if he should yell at his aunt for giving away his secret, when he had asked her not to, or if he should forgive and face the situation and be done with it.

Paige took his silence in a bad way. "Chris, please, forgive me. I know that you didn't want them to know, but I couldn't"

She was cut off by him. "Just, drop it, ok? I'm too tired to fight right now. Right now I don't know if I should feel betrayed by you or what. I just… need some time, ok?"

Paige let out a breath. "Ok, little angel. Just… don't hate me for talking, please."

Chris smiled softly. "I won't hate you, _Aunt_ Paige." The woman smiled broadly at his term of endearment.

"Good," she said softly. "Because your Auntie Paige loves you very much and only wants the best for you." She couldn't resist and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and then stood up.

Paige hated to break the moment. "Piper and Leo will want to see and talk to you sooner than later."

Chris scowled. "Well too bad, because I don't want to talk to them." He started pacing the room. "I want to be alone, ok?"

"What are you going to do, Chris?" she asked worriedly.

"What I came to do. Search for the demon who took Wyatt." He didn't give her time to respond, as he just orbed out of the room.

Paige closed her eyes and tried to sense him, but he was blocking her. "Darn!" she said worriedly and orbed to the Manor.

**& & &**

_*The next morning, december 14__th__, 2003. P3's backroom* _

Piper opened the door and entered quietly, afraid of making a sound. She turned on the light and a disappointed sigh left her lips. He wasn't there. She had hoped that she would find him there.

She walked slowly and paid close attention to her surroundings. If she didn't know he lived there, she wouldn't even realize that he used the backroom as his bedroom. The room was really clean and tidy, and didn't have any personal belongings at first sight. She reached the closet and opened it. A little smile appeared on her lips when she saw a backpack. She grabbed it carefully and then sat on the bed.

Her eyes blurred with tears. The bed was old and uncomfortable. Her baby boy had been sleeping in a horrid bed. Paige was right. She hugged the backpack to her chest and closed her eyes tightly and let the tears fall down her pale cheeks. She hadn't slept during the night and had spent the entire day recriminating and kicking herself. She would never forgive herself for the way she had treated Chris. She would never forget his pained face when she blew him up, or the way he said that he'd never forgive her. And why should she forgive herself? She had hurt him in so many ways. She didn't deserve any kind of relief or forgiveness.

A loud sob escaped her lips and she felt even more horrible. She desperately wanted to see him, fall to her knees and beg him for another chance, for an absolution that only he could give. But he was nowhere in sight. Neither Leo nor Paige had been able to sense him. Where was he? Was he in the underworld or was he just blocking them? She hoped that he would be safe, wherever he was. She couldn't take if anything else happened to him.

After a few minutes she managed to calm herself and slowly opened the backpack. He practically didn't have any clothes. She grabbed a deep blue shirt that had the word 'Nightwish' written on it and lifted it to her nose and then inhaled deeply, losing herself in the smell of his aftershave and his own essence. She then folded the shirt and put it back in the backpack. She searched for any other item and big was her surprise when she found a photo.

With trembling fingers she lifted it and saw some written words on the back of the photo. The words were blurry and childlike. She squinted her eyes and managed to read the words. _'My seventh birthday. Mommy, Wyatt and me'_. Then turned the photo and gasped at the image. There she was, with her hair longer than ever and a big, happy smile on her face. She had two boys on her knees. On her left knee sat a blonde boy with soft curls, blue eyes and sweet smile. In her right knee sat a little boy with a mop of brown hair and amazing green eyes. His smile was so big and beautiful that it lightened the whole room.

Her heart clenched painfully. She stared at the picture for many minutes, memorizing every feature. She was pulled from her rapt contemplation of the picture by the sound of orbing. She raised her eyes and saw Leo.

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose when he saw the distraught expression on his wife's face. The past day had been really hard for the two of them. He hadn't seen her in hours, deciding to look out for his future son. Without a word, he sat at her side and looked at the picture in her hand.

His breath caught in his throat and felt his eyes blur with unshed tears. There were his children, his beautiful children. The two of them sat in silence for many minutes, just staring at the image.

Finally, Piper broke the silence while she traced Chris' face with her index finger. "He has such a beautiful smile," she started to say and sniffed. "A-and it breaks my heart that he doesn't smile like this anymore." She looked at her husband. "Have you seen him smile, Leo?"

Leo closed his eyes in pain. "No sweetie, I haven't seen him really smile. He just smirks and scowls in my presence."

"We really failed him, Leo. We really did," she said brokenly and Leo hugged her tightly, letting in her cry on his shoulder.

"Don't you think I know, Piper? I hit him for God's sake!" he exclaimed brokenly.

Piper broke the hug and stared at him with incredulous eyes. "Why? When?"

"After I got out of Valhalla. You were just turned into a Valkyrie and I lashed out at him." He took a long a pause. "Then I took him back to Valhalla, intent on finding you. I led him to a cage and challenged him to sword fighting. I put a sword against my son's throat, Piper. You can't possibly know how much I hate myself at this moment."

Piper sighed. "I know how you feel, Leo." She took a last look at the picture and then put it back in the backpack. Then she stood up and put it back in the closet. After a few minutes she sat back at her husband's side. "It's amazing the feeling of being a mother, you know? Just a day ago I resented his very existence and right now I love him with every fibre of my being. I don't know how to explain it, but just knowing that he's my son…" she said quietly and stared at her husband. She could see that he felt the same way. "And I know that the love I feel for him will grow and grow with every little thing he does." She smiled softly. "I'm not even mad at him anymore. I just want to know why he did the things he did, you know? I want to understand his actions, his reasoning."

"I know what you mean, sweetheart. I would really like to know why he did the things he did, but I don't hold anything against him anymore." He paused and braced himself. "I want to know why he didn't tell us about Wyatt before."

Piper let out a sob. "I still have trouble understanding where we went wrong with Wyatt. How could he be evil, Leo? Wyatt is… is the Twice Blessed Child, a child of a Charmed One and a whitelighter. He's supposed to represent everything that is good and beautiful in this world." She wiped her eyes. "Both Wyatt and Chris are supposed to represent that." She finished sadly.

Leo kissed her temple. "Maybe… maybe he was too powerful and we couldn't contain him," he said lamely.

Piper shook her head. "That can't be." She stayed in silence trying to come up with a good reason of their future failure with their eldest child. "I just feel like such a huge failure as a mother. I failed Wyatt and he turns evil, and I failed Chris in this timeline and hurt him in unimaginable ways." She turned her head into Leo's shoulder and cried some more.

Leo tried to stay strong for his wife but after a while couldn't contain his pain and the tears fell. Both embraced strongly for many minutes, basking in the other's presence.

Both stood there in silence, hoping that their youngest son would appear at any moment and they'd be able to start the long process of forgiveness. After an hour or so, their shoulders slumped and they went back to the Manor. After all, they had a baby to take care of.

"_To be continued"_

**AN2: **Please review! They inspire me to write faster! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**AN:** Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm very happy you're liking the story. This is the last chapter beta'ed so far. Right not I'm beta-less  If anyone of you is interested in lending me a hand, I'd be forever grateful.

This chapter was beta'ed by **Evil Amplified**.

**Chapter 5 **

_*Sunday night__, december 15__th__, 2003. The Underworld*_

Chris let out a breath and rested his back on the cavern's wall. He felt truly tired, hungry and moody, a really bad combination for demon hunting, but he didn't want to get out of the Underworld yet, he didn't want to risk an encounter with any member of his family. He brushed off some dirt from his cheek and closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to get some energy to keep destroying the demons. Even with the tiredness his body felt, he didn't want to stop yet, the thrill of the kill and his powers were still running high in his blood.

A low sound pulled him from his thoughts and he opened his eyes, looking sharply at his surroundings. The last few days he had felt that someone was watching him, and the feeling had increased in the last day or so, but he couldn't find anything.

After a minute or so, he shrugged his shoulders and got up from the wall. He stretched his muscles while he thought which demon clan he should destroy. He had already wiped out two full clans of medium level demons.

He stared to walk again, mindful of his surroundings and looking for the source of the sound, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He stiffled a yawn, feeling his senses and reflexes slowing down, but he felt determined to keep going, to continue killing demons.

He walked a few more paces and stopped suddenly when he heard a new sound and felt the air ripple around him. He turned to fight whoever was there but his reflexes were too slow for his attacker. He felt something hit his temple and a moment or two later felt a searing pain in his head. Then nothing.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Chris slowly came back to consciousness. He was lying on a hard surface, and his brain belatedly registered that it was the ground in some Underworld cavern, hard, humid and muddy. He moved his head a bit and let out a groan of pain.

After a few moments he opened his eyes and whimpered in pain at the strong light coming from the torches. He closed them again and heard a hard laugh coming from his right side. A moment later he opened them again and realized that he was in Xanchek's cavern.

He moved his head to his right carefully, wary of whatever injury he had and his eyes locked with Xanchek's.

Xanchek walked slowly to him and knelt at his side. "Nice of you to wake up, kid. You've been 'asleep' for over twelve hours." He paused and eyed him with hate. "I have to admit it boy, you're hard to get. My minion followed you for many days until your reflexes were low enough for him to make his move against you." He smirked maliciously and eyed the pile of ashes of Caleb's burned body.

Chris scowled at him and tried to move his hands to toss around the demon. He felt searing pain and bit his lower lip to stop the cries of pain.

Xanchek laughed out loud. "I wouldn't move much if I were you, boy. I have put on you a nice pair of bracelets that will block any of your active powers, so don't even try to hurt me, kid."

Chris frowned when he saw the bracelets on his wrists. "What have you done to me, demon?" he asked upset.

"Nothing that you don't deserve, you lying and manipulating boy. Did you think that I wouldn't realize that you are half witch, half whitelighter and the son of a Charmed One?" he asked harshly and Chris swallowed, realizing for the first time that he was in a dire situation. "I will have to teach you a lesson, boy, so you won't mess with your superiors ever again."

Chris couldn't help but laugh at Xanchek's last words. "My superiors? You've got to be kidding me, disgusting piece of filth. You're just a Source wannabe that won't get anywhere._ I_ won't allow it," he finished saying, trying to sound sure of himself while he desperately tried to plan his way out of the mess.

Xanchek smirked and an energy ball appeared in his hand, he threw it at Chris' right leg and the boy screamed in pain, feeling his leg burning. "That's rich coming from the boy who is lying in my cavern helpless and screaming in pain. I will teach you real pain for trying to best me, kid."

With those words the high level demon pulled out an athame from his robe and stared to trace Chris' face with it, enjoying it when the boy started to bleed and swallowed hard. "You know, the blade of this knife is poisoned with Tronemeheride, a powerful substance that will destroy your internal organs in the space of fourty-eight hours," he smirked. "I have heard that it's quite painful for the victim." He shoved the knife in Chris abdomen and smiled in satisfaction when the young man screamed in pain and tears fell down his face, mixing with the blood and dirt.

Xanchek stood up and observed the half witch's pain with amusement. The last hours of the boy's life would be really painful and he would enjoy every moment of it. No one would be able to save him. His cavern was protected against sensing or outside magic, and without his actives powers the kid was nothing.

He smiled in triumph. The kid would die for daring to cross him.

**& & &**

_*Monday night__, december 16__th__, 2003. The kitchen*_

Piper finished doing the dishes. That night's dinner had been tense, but at least her sisters had eaten her food. It had almost been three days since anyone in the house saw or heard from Chris, and that was grating on their high strung nerves.

She dried her hands and left the kitchen. She took a peek in the conservatory and saw that Phoebe was working on the column with a deep frown marring her face. Piper sighed, at least Phoebe was speaking civilly to her. Paige was another thing. Her youngest sister was completely unwilling to relent in her open rage at her oldest sister and brother in law. Not that she could blame her, but she thought that it would be better if they put their rage aside and worked together to find her son.

Piper walked up the stairs and reached the nursery. She stood in the entry and watched Wyatt with a fond expression. The blonde baby was standing in his crib, his little hands grabbing the handle to support himself. He lifted his baby blue eyes and smiled broadly at his mother's familiar presence.

"Ma! Ma!" Wyatt cried happily.

Piper reached out for him and picked him up. He was already dressed in his teddy bear pyjamas. She kissed the soft blonde hair and lost herself in his smell and comforting presence. "I won't fail you, Wyatt. I will keep you good and sane. I don't care what I have to do to protect you, but mommy won't fail you again."

She walked to the rocking chair and sat carefully. She put Wyatt's head in the crook of her arm and started to rock slowly. With her free hand she caressed the soft, pink cheek and the ten month old smiled in contentment.

She started to sing his favourite song to make him sleep.

"_Twinkle, twinkle, little star,_

_How I wonder what you are!_

_Up above the world so high,_

_Like a diamond in the sky!"_

She repeated the verse a few times and Wyatt dozed off, feeling safe in his mother's arms. Piper smiled softly and stood up, walked to the crib and put the baby back in, careful to not upset his sleep.

She stood there, watching him fondly for several minutes, letting her baby's presence calm her down and offer her some sort of sanctuary. Then she turned around and turned off the light and left the nursery.

She walked slowly and reached Paige's bedroom and knocked softly. She heard a muffled 'come in' and opened the door slowly. She found her sister in her bed reading a novel.

Paige looked up and scowled at the sight of her sister. "What do you want, Piper?" she asked harshly.

Piper sighed and closed the door behind her. She closed the distance between them and sat on the bed. She started to talk slowly and softly, intent on not getting into another fight with her baby sister. "Look, Paige, I know you are furious with me and I don't blame you. I really don't. I would be furious with me too if I were in your shoes." She paused too see her sister's reaction. At least she wasn't scowling at her anymore. "I'm worried about Chris. We haven't heard any sign of him in almost three days," she finished desperately.

Paige's shoulders sagged at Piper's desperate voice. It was difficult for her to realize that Piper was her own worst enemy in this situation. She had mistreated her own child and she hated herself for it. She was still mad at her sister, but maybe she should make an effort to antagonize a little less. "He said that he wanted to be left alone when I spoke to him after…" She left it there, knowing perfectly that Piper would know what she was talking about. Piper lowered her eyes shamefully. Paige closed her book and put it in the nightstand. She moved in the bed and sat at her sister's side. "I'm worried about him, too," she murmured and Piper looked up at her. "I'm afraid he's on a killing spree in the Underworld and he could get hurt."

"What?" Piper nearly shrieked.

Paige pinched the bridge of her nose. "After we found out his secret," she began softly. "He disappeared for three whole days and we didn't know anything. We scryed and tried to sense for him, but we didn't find him. Finally I sensed him Wednesday night on the bridge. He told us that he had been in the Underworld for the past few days, vanquishing demons. He did the same thing the next day. He spent almost two days there after he heard you talking in the kitchen."

Piper closed her eyes in pain when she remembered her callous words. Then the realization hit her. Her son took too many risks with his life. Her breath quickened and she thought her heart might burst. "The Underworld, Paige! It's too dangerous. Anything could happen to him! What powers does he have to defend himself? He has no one to watch his back! What if…" she rambled and Paige cut her when she shook her by the shoulders.

"For God's sake, Piper. Get a grip on yourself. You're going to hyperventilate if you go on like this." She shook her sister's shoulders a few more times and smiled in satisfaction when her sister's eyes returned to normal instead of the crazed look. "I know that the Underworld is incredibly dangerous, but he is an adult. He is twenty- two. As much as I would love to wrap him in cotton wool and hide him in his room forever, I can't do that." Piper opened her mouth to protest. "You can't either, by the way. You may be his future mother, but you can't forbid him to do something." She tilted her head to a side. "Besides, I think he goes to the Underworld for cathartic release. It helps him to let go of pent up pressure and feelings."

"But I don't like it, Paige. It's too dangerous," the young mother answered softly.

"I know, I don't like either, but I accept it," she said softly.

Both sat in silence for a while. "You really know him, don't you?" asked Piper sadly.

Paige pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not as much as I would like. He's very tight lipped and I only found out a week ago. But I have tried to get to know him better, to bond with him." She smiled softly remembering the 20 questions game they played a few nights ago.

"What has he said to you?" Piper asked with a hopeful tone.

Paige scowled at her sister, suddenly remembering who she was talking to. "That's none of your business. If you want to know about him, you'll have to ask him," she said harshly, any previous softness or trace or forgiveness gone in a flash.

Piper lowered her eyes and stared at the folded hands in her lap. "You know he won't say anything to me," she said guiltily.

"Jeez, I wonder why," Paige said dryly.

"Paige, please!" Piper pleaded.

Paige let out a breath and rubbed her temples. She started to talk slowly, trying to organize her thoughts and feelings. "Look, Piper, I'm still incredibly mad at you, and I guess I'll be for a while." Her sister nodded sadly. "I know that in this situation, you're your own worst enemy and the pain and guilt you're putting on yourself is more than enough. But I can't help it. You hurt him a lot and that breaks my heart and fills me with rage." She stood and started pacing. "In the last few days there have been moments when I wanted to hug you and comfort you, but there are other moments went I want…" she moved her arms wildly to emphasize her point.

Piper raised her blurred eyes and stared at her baby sister. "I know, Paige. I'm thankful that you're at least speaking to me and not trying to hit me, or something worse. These past few days I have felt like the worst person ever and the most undeserving mother in the world." She finally broke down and started crying again.

Paige stood there for a while, staring at her sister's pain. Finally she relented and sat at her side, offering her shoulder, which Piper took thankfully. "His favourite colour is blue," she started to say in an attempt to comfort her older sister. "His favourite book hasn't been written, but he likes The Lord of the Rings a lot. His preferred character is Gandalf because he is wise and cool." Piper smiled through her tears and Paige started to run her fingers in Piper's long hair. "He loves pasta and is allergic to chocolate, so don't go and offer any chocolate, ok?" Piper nodded on her shoulder.

Both stayed in silence for a while, until Piper broke it. "Has he said something about Wyatt?"

Paige stiffened. "Not much, just that he was kidnapped before his second birthday and that somehow turned him evil."

Piper's tears fell with more force. "That's so soon! Am I going to lose my baby in a year's time?" she asked desperately and Paige felt her heart clench when she heard Piper's anguished voice.

"No, honey. We won't lose him so soon. Chris said that the evil started to manifest when Wyatt was sixteen or so. It laid dormant in him for many years."

"What or who pulled the trigger?" she asked softly and Paige tensed. Piper realized this and sat straighter, locking eyes with her sister. "Paige, please, I need to know."

Paige nodded but didn't talk for a while. "Phoebe's premonition was about you," she murmured and Piper stared at her confusedly. "Chris was fourteen or so and he was trying to heal you, but… but…" she didn't finish. It was too painful.

Piper felt suddenly cold. She wasn't afraid of death, but she was desperately afraid of leaving her children motherless. "So I die," she started to say with a raspy voice. "I leave my children motherless and Wyatt turns evil in the process," she finished while she stared blankly at her surroundings.

Paige nodded sadly. "That's what Chris told us."

The girls stayed silent for a while, Piper digesting the news of her ultimately demise and the thought that one way or another, her death had helped to turn Wyatt evil. After almost ten minutes in silence, Piper spoke again. "Are you alive, at least?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't know. I told you before, he's very tight lipped about his life. Besides your demise and Wyatt's turning, Phoebe and I only know that he has some sort of issue with Leo, because he completely ignores him or gets upset when we talk about him," she said hopelessly.

Piper closed her eyes in pain. That would be a hard blow for Leo, knowing that he had problems with his son both in the present and his son's past. "Thanks for talking to me, Paige. I really needed it," she said softly.

"You're welcome. Just… don't get used to it for a while. My emotions are in turmoil and I don't know if I will be so 'good hearted' tomorrow or in a few days time, ok?" she said softly.

Piper stood up slowly and nodded at her sister. "I know, I know. You're still furious and I understand it. I just hope that we will get though this sooner than later."

Paige sighed sadly. "I hope that too. For Chris' sake."

Piper nodded and left the room, feeling a tad lighter than before. Paige and she weren't ok yet, but at least were on the way to being ok. And Chris… she now at least knew one or two things about him. She just hoped that he would be safe and appear soon. She desperately wanted to see him.

**& & &**

_*Tuesday evening__, december 17__th__, 2003. The Underworld* _

Chris whimpered and opened his eyes warily. He didn't know how much time he had left. He only knew that he was in incredible pain and wanted it to stop. He felt like his insides were burning and his blood felt like acid.

He wanted get out of there and reach for his aunts. Maybe they'd save him. He didn't want to die yet. He had to finish his mission, or at least make an important discovery and transmit it to his family so they would save the future.

He was pulled from his thoughts with the sound of a malicious laugh. He moved his head slightly and stared at Xanchek though pained eyes.

"Are you giving up, kid? You know, you have less than a day left. Are you enjoying your last hours on earth?" he asked with an ironic tone and Chris hated him with passion.

Chris closed his eyes and tried to think of something to help him. So, he had been in and out of consciousness for a day now since he was stabbed and practically delirious thanks to the pain. He could feel the wound and the blood around him and that scared him more that he was willing to admit.

He tried to speak but his throat was too dry. Maybe he could think of a spell. His active powers were blocked by the bracelets, but not his ability to cast a spell, right? He had to try it. It was his last chance. He focused and after a few minutes managed to come up with a spell. It wasn't his best ever, but it would have to do. He just prayed that it would work. He would be tapping into a power within him, a power that he didn't know if he could gain access to it in this timeline because he wasn't conceived yet.

He took many deep breaths and moistened his lips. He focused his gaze on Xanchek and started to chant in a weak and low voice.

"_I call upon the ancient power_

_To help me in this darkest hour_

_The Power of One I invoke thee_

_The Power of One will help me get free" _

Huge was his surprise when the spell worked and Xanchek screamed in pain and then disappeared in flames. Then, the bracelets on his wrists disappeared and Chris let out a breath of relief. He let his head fall and rested for a few moments. The spell had taken a lot of his energy.

After a minute or so he tried to orb, but couldn't find the strength to do so. A disappointed sigh left his lips and he tried again. After five failed attempts, he managed to orb to his bed in the backroom of P3.

**& & &**

Paige closed the Manor's door behind her and left her car keys on the table. She left her cloak on the perch and called out "Hello! Anybody home?"

"In here!" she heard Phoebe's muffled voice from somewhere on the second floor.

"Hi, Paige!" Leo answered from the conservatory, where he was playing with Wyatt and some cubes.

"Hello, Leo." She walked into the conservatory. "And how is my little guy this evening?" she cooed to her baby nephew, who smiled in delight at his Auntie's presence.

Suddenly the adults in the room staggered a few paces, astonished. Paige looked at Leo with scared eyes. "Chris! I can sense him! He's in pain!" she exclaimed.

Leo nodded gravely, his eyes mirroring her concern. "The backroom at P3. I'll go for him."

Paige frowned. "No! He won't want to see you. I will go and see what's happening to him, ok?" Leo wanted to protest and go see his youngest son, but knew that Paige was right. Chris wouldn't want to see him. Piper had already told him everything and apparently he and Chris had issues in the future, which pained him terribly. He nodded sadly to Paige. "Here, take Wyatt," she said softly and then orbed to P3.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

She orbed in the backroom and let out a gasp of surprise and fear. Chris was lying on his bed, with a big wound in his bloody abdomen, an energy ball burn in his right leg and his face bloodied and dirty.

She felt her eyes burn with tears as she reached her nephew's side in three large paces. She knelt by his side and took his hand. "Chris, honey, can you hear me?" she asked him urgently, terribly afraid of his stillness.

Slowly, Chris opened his eyes and she let the tears fall when she saw his pained gaze. "H-hurts, Auntie," he choked out and closed his eyes, losing consciousness again.

"Shh, everything it's going to be okay, little angel. Just hold on, ok? Hold on for your Auntie Paige." With those words, she orbed him out of there, a deep fear taking hold of her heart.

"_To be continued"_

**AN2:** Please, don't forget to review ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**AN:** Thank you very, very much for the reviews! I was hoping to update last Friday night... but oh well. Here it is the next chapter, I hope you like it.

This chapter it's **not** beta'ed. I'm sorry for any mistakes there.

**Chapter 6**

"Leo! LEO!" Paige yelled hysterically before her orbs reformed in her bedroom. She yelled again when she reformed fully and helped Chris in a more comfortable position in her bed. A pained frown marred his face and she touched softly his bloodied cheek. "Shh, it's ok little angel. Leo is going to heal you and you're going to be just fine."

Leo appeared in a flurry of orbs just as the door opened and Piper and Phoebe banged in. "What's hap…" Piper started to ask but let out a gasp when she saw Chris. Phoebe bit her lip and grabbed her sister's arm tightly.

Leo's face blanched when he saw his son's state. He reached for him and extended his hands to heal him. "What happened, Paige?" he asked and then released a breath when his hands started to glow with his healing touch.

Piper and Phoebe reached Paige's side and peered anxiously, waiting impatiently for the healing to work. Piper felt her eyes burn with tears, just three days ago she had seen her son in that state, bleeding and in intense pain. Now he was like that again and she felt a cold shiver down her spine. She felt Phoebe's hand in her arm and hold onto her tightly, afraid that if she didn't have Phoebe's support her knees would fail.

Paige wriggled her hands nervously. "I don't know," she choked. "I found him like this in P3." They stood in silence for a few moments, hoping desperately that Leo's healing glow would save Chris.

Leo frowned, he could feel that the energy ball's burn and the knife wound were healed, but Chris was still hurt and unconscious. There was something really wrong there. He closed his eyes and focused more in healing his boy.

"Leo, what's happening?" Piper started to ask with an anxious tone. "Why is he still unconscious?" She stared at her son's face and the tears fell. He looked so hurt and vulnerable and that broke her heart.

Leo didn't answer for a while, too focused in healing his son. After a couple of minutes he opened his eyes and his shoulders slumped. There was something really wrong in his son's body. He raised his eyes and saw the three scared and worried faces of the sisters. "I-I don't know. There's something really wrong at his end." He stared at his hands. "I healed the knife wound and the energy ball injury, but he's still injured and in grave danger."

"Then heal him!" Piper yelled, the grip of fear taking hold of her heart.

"I can't, Piper! There is something inside of him blocking my power! I don't know what it is, but I know it's serious." He finished brokenly and stared at the boy. He felt incredibly scared for his son's life, besides his own sense of failure. He was failing his son… again.

Piper let out a sob and freed herself from Phoebe's grasp. She sat at her husband's side and took hold of Chris' hand. "Baby, please, hold on." She said while tears fell down her cheeks. "Wake up, please. Wake up."

Paige left the room and ran to the bathroom. She opened the cabinet and grabbed a basin. She filled it with water and then grabbed a couple of towels. She swiftly walked back to her bedroom and sat at her nephew's side, opposite Piper and Leo. Phoebe was watching anxiously behind the distraught parents.

Paige put the basin in the nightstand and started the process of cleaning and refreshing Chris' face. She couldn't stand to see him bloody and dirty, it was too much for her. Besides, she needed to do something for her nephew. Maybe the water in his face would rouse him.

Seeing her sister's actions, Piper got up and walked to the other side of the bed, where Paige was cleaning Chris' face. She grabbed the other towel and helped her sister. She touched her son's cheek for the first time and felt that she could burst from emotion.

Paige saw her and nodded stiffly, knowing that Piper needed it too. She didn't want to upset the temporary truce that they had reached the day before. Suddenly she was hit by an idea. She looked up and locked eyes with Phoebe. "Please try to get a premonition out of him, see who did this to him." She pleaded softly and the parents looked at Phoebe with blind hope.

Phoebe nodded and reached for Chris' hand. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her nephew, trying to get a premonition from him. A couple of minutes passed and nothing happened. She frowned and concentrated harder, desperate to do something to help her nephew.

Almost five minutes later she opened her eyes and her shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, I can't. I try and try and I can't." Tears of disappointment fell down her face.

Leo squeezed her arm. "It's ok Phoebe, we know you tried your best." He tried to hide his disappointment and worry from the empath.

He stared at his son and saw that the boy was frowning in pain and his heart clenched. "Hey buddy, are you with us?" he asked softly and raised his hands to try to heal him. It wouldn't cure him but hopefully it would ease his suffering, at least a little bit.

Chris moaned softly and all the family closed on him, paying him their utmost attention.

Phoebe squeezed his hand. "Please sweetie, wake up."

After a few moments, Chris managed to open his eyes and Piper gasped at the pain present in his green eyes. The boy tried to move but could not do it and whimpered in pain when he felt his insides turn.

Paige swallowed and finished rinsing his face with careful and soft movements. Piper did the same and folded her hands in her lap, she was itching to grab her boy and never let go, but was scared of his reaction and didn't want to upset him in his present condition.

"Hey there, little angel," Paige said softly while she caressed his long bangs. His eyes rolled trying to focus on her and she moved to sit in front of him. She grabbed his free hand and squeezed softly. "We need to know who did this to you, honey. Do you remember anything? Can you talk?"

Chris swallowed. "H-hurts." He choked out.

"I know you're hurting, buddy, but I can't heal you. There's something blocking my power." Leo said with sympathy and Chris stared at him confusedly. "Please, try to remember who did this to you so we can search for a cure."

Chris closed his eyes and his family was scared that he was losing consciousness again. They let out a relieved sigh when he opened his eyes again and locked eyes with Paige's. "Xanchek… Knife… Poison…" he gasped and then coughed up blood. Paige grabbed a tissue from her nightstand a cleaned the blood while she cried softly.

"What else, Chris? Do you remember anything else?" asked Piper urgently, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of his blood. Chris slightly shook his head. "Leo, go get the Book of Shadows." She prompted and Leo orbed out swiftly.

The sisters stayed in silence for a few seconds, too overwhelmed with Chris' dire situation. Finally Phoebe opened her mouth to speak. "I can't stand his pain, I'm going to search for sedatives or something." She stood up and got out from the room.

A moment later Leo appeared with the Book and Piper took it gratefully. She started to pass the pages rapidly, her eyes moving wildly searching for Xanchek's entry.

Leo sat again at his son's side and tried to heal him again. Chris opened his eyes and stared at him confusedly. "W-what are you doing, Leo?" he asked with a raspy voice.

Leo flinched at the sound of his name. Never in his life had he thought that his name sounded wrong, but now he did. "I'm trying to make you feel better, buddy." He said softly while looking warmly at his son.

Chris coughed again, but thankfully didn't bleed this time. "Don't bother," he wheezed. "Not working."

Leo tried to hide his hurt expression, but couldn't manage it completely. It hurt him his son's treatment, but he would have to take it because he deserved it.

In that moment Phoebe entered the room with a glass of water and various tablets. She put the glass on the nightstand and chose two sedatives. Piper stopped searching the Book for a moment, looked up at Phoebe with pleading eyes and she relented it, giving the pills to her older sister.

Piper smiled softly in appreciation and touched softly her baby's arm. "Baby, I need you to drink some pills that will make you feel better, ok?" Chris looked at her though narrowed eyes and then closed his eyes, ignoring her. "Chris, please!" she pleaded.

"Don't wanna." He wheezed and his family sighed.

Paige took the pills and decided to try herself. "For me, little angel? Would you drink those pills for you Auntie? Pretty please?" she asked softly, hoping that he would accept.

For a few seconds nothing happened and Paige was starting to come up with another route to convince him. Then, he opened his mouth and she gave him the pills and a few sips of water. "Good boy, little angel."

Piper felt deeply hurt by her son's rejection. She took a deep breath trying to calm down and resumed her reading. At least he had taken the sedatives.

Paige caressed his hair fondly and a few minutes later he succumbed into sleep, thanks to the sedatives in his blood. She let out a sigh of relief; at least he wasn't hurting so much anymore.

Piper looked at him with longing, wanting desperately to have the relationship that her sisters had with him, but it would have to wait, she would have to be patient and earn that place. She kept searching in the Book and finally found the demon's entry. "Found it!" she murmured excitedly. Maybe they could save her son now. Her sisters and husband closed on her, all with eager expressions on their faces.

She read the entry slowly and lowly, mindful of the sleeping boy. _"Xanchek, high level demon. He was vanquished by the Source in 1689, but was brought back to life by the new Source in 1913 as an ally. His powers are: energy balls, fireballs and shimmering. Rumoured to have a rivalry with the Source who brought him back because he wants the throne for himself. Needs the Power of Three to be vanquished." _

Piper turned the page and found no more information. She let out a frustrated growl, that didn't help them in any way to heal Chris.

Phoebe turned to Paige, who was still caressing softly her nephew. "That was the demon whom he was meeting last week, right?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, but the information in the Book doesn't help us in anything." All of them agreed with her. "The only helpful thing that says is that we have the power to vanquish him, so we will plan our revenge once Chris is out of the woods."

Piper contemplated her son for a few minutes and was hit with sudden inspiration. "A spell!" she exclaimed and everyone looked at her confusedly.

"A spell for what?" asked Phoebe.

"Too see though his memories! That way we will know what Xanchek did to him." She said excitedly, already starting to think up the spell.

Leo hated to burst her bubble, but had to do it. "Honey, I don't think we have time to see all through his memories right now."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Leo. The spell will be for this specific memory. Besides, I don't want to kill off completely whatever relationship I have with him right now." She took a pause and looked at all of them. "Look at him, whatever it is, is eating at him. I have a feeling that he won't," her voice broke. "Last much if we don't do something. I think a spell is the only option."

All by one agreed to her logic and Phoebe stood up. "I'm going to look for a pen and paper. I will write the spell in a jiffy." She left the room.

Paige locked eyes with Piper. "I think you should call Darryl and see if he and Sheyla can take care of Wyatt. I don't know how long this is going to take us and right now Chris needs our utmost attention.

Both parents nodded and left the room to take care of Wyatt. Paige kissed her nephew's temple softly. "You'll see, little angel, everything is going to be alright."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Fifteen minutes later they met in the attic. Paige had decided to stay and watch over Chris. Leo had already orbed Wyatt to Darryl's.

Phoebe checked for one last time the spell and clucked, it wasn't her best ever but it would have to do. She handed it over to Piper and she nodded after reading it. They joined hands with Leo and recited the spell.

"_Blood of our blood is in need of our help_

_A memory of him is what we need to see_

_So we can know what was made to him_

_And in turn bring him the relief he needs"_

A few moments later they all gasped and closed their eyes. The memory they were looking for was playing in their minds.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_Xanchek walked slowly to him and knelt at his side. "Nice of you to wake up, kid. You've been 'asleep' for over twelve hours." He paused and eyed him with hate. "I have to admit it boy, you're hard to get. My minion followed you for many days until your reflexes were low enough for him to make his move against you." He smirked maliciously and eyed the pile of ashes of Caleb's burned body._

_Chris scowled at him and tried to move his hands to toss around the demon. He felt searing pain and bit his lower lip to stop the cries of pain. _

_Xanchek laughed out loud. "I wouldn't move much if I were you, boy. I have put on you a nice pair of bracelets that will block any of your active powers, so don't even try to hurt me, kid." _

_Chris frowned when he saw the bracelets on his wrists. "What have you done to me, demon?" he asked upset. _

"_Nothing that you don't deserve, you lying and manipulating boy. Did you think that I wouldn't realize that you are half witch, half whitelighter and the son of a Charmed One?" he asked harshly and Chris swallowed, realizing for the first time that he was in a dire situation. "I will have to teach you a lesson, boy, so you won't mess with your superiors ever again." _

_Chris couldn't help but laugh at Xanchek's last words. "My superiors? You've got to be kidding me, disgusting piece of filth. You're just a Source wannabe that won't get anywhere. I won't allow it," he finished saying, trying to sound sure of himself while he desperately tried to plan his way out of the mess. _

_Xanchek smirked and an energy ball appeared in his hand, he threw it at Chris' right leg and the boy screamed in pain, feeling his leg burning. "That's rich coming from the boy who is lying in my cavern helpless and screaming in pain. I will teach you real pain for trying to best me, kid." _

_With those words the high level demon pulled out an athame from his robe and stared to trace Chris' face with it, enjoying it when the boy started to bleed and swallowed hard. "You know, the blade of this knife is poisoned with Tronemeheride, a powerful substance that will destroy your internal organs in the space of fourty-eight hours," he smirked. "I have heard that it's quite painful for the victim." He shoved the knife in Chris abdomen and smiled in satisfaction when the young man screamed in pain and tears fell down his face, mixing with the blood and dirt. _

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Oh God!" Piper cried when the memory finished. "That frigging bastard! I will kill him with my own hands!" she was so upset that a flower vase exploded behind her. Leo and Phoebe were so overwhelmed that barely noted the explosion.

Leo was pulled out from his homicidal thoughts by his wife's screams. He grabbed her by the shoulders and talked to her with a steady voice. "I think I know which poison is Tronemeheride, it's a really dark one. I will have to go and talk to the other Elders, ok?" she looked at him confused, not understanding why he was going to leave their son. He shook her a bit. "They will know about the antidote, Piper! That's why my healing is not working, we need an antidote and the Elders will know about it." Piper finally understood and nodded. He orbed out.

Phoebe squeezed Piper's hand, sympathising with her sister's pain. "Let's go. He needs us." She said quietly.

Piper nodded and started to walk out of the attic. When they were reaching Paige's bedroom she stopped. "I will make him some soup or something. Maybe that will make him feel a little bit better." She said while biting her lower bit.

Phoebe nodded and Piper walked swiftly down the stairs.

Phoebe took a deep breath to calm down her rapidly beating heart. She had felt so much rage while watching the memory playing in her mind. She felt helpless and desperate to save Chris from that pain. She entered the room quietly and smiled softly when she saw that Chris was conscious again. He was leaning against Paige's shoulder and she was murmuring endearments to him.

She sat at his side and took hold of his hand. He looked at her and managed to smile a little. "Hey there, sweetie. Do you feel any better?" she asked.

"A little." He rasped out. "Although, I have been better."

Phoebe caressed his forehead. "I can imagine that, sweetie. Just, hold on, ok? We already know the name of the poison so Leo is investigating for the antidote, ok? Hold on a little bit and we will save you." She finished while squeezing his hand, trying to give him some strength. He looked too small and vulnerable in that bed, his cheeks pale, pained eyes and laboured breathing.

Chris squeezed her hand back, starting to feel drained again. The sedatives he had taken a while before were running out of effect and he felt that it was getting more and more difficult to stay conscious and alert. He thought about what she had said and a small frown marred his face. Leo was looking for an antidote. Then any hope of surviving this ordeal was lost. He didn't trust Leo because he had never delivered before in his life. Time after time he had been let down by his so called father, and this would not be an exception to the rule.

"Won't work," he started to murmur, and his aunts had to strain their ears to hear him. "Leo won't deliver and I will die."

Both sisters sucked in their breaths at his words. He thought he was going to die and he didn't trust his own father to cure him.

Phoebe found her voice and spoke with a calming tone. "Leo loves you, Chris. You are his son. He will find the ingredients of the antidote and we will make it, ok? Then you will be alright and itching to get out of our grasps."

"Don't know," he choked out. "He's never been there for me." He finished saying and closed his eyes in pain; the girls thought that he was probably remembering Leo's futures failures.

Phoebe was surprised at this. She remembered a few nights ago when he got defensive when they mentioned Leo, but she didn't know it was this serious. She still was upset with his brother in law for his treatment of Chris, but she didn't think he was a bad father. "Chris, sweetheart, I know Leo loves you. You haven't seen him this past few days, he hates himself for the way he treated you and is capable to do anything, _anything_ to earn your forgiveness and love." She took a pause and draw comforting circles in her nephew's wrist. "I know you and I have had problems in this timeline, but I have trouble understanding how he could be a bad father in the future." She paused at his glare. "Not that I don't believe you, because I do. It's just…" she shrugged. "He's such a good father to Wyatt and loves you already." She finished saying.

Chris opened his mouth to respond but closed it again when a wave of pain travelled down his body. Paige offered him some water and he took a sip or two. "Well, he's not a good father in the future. Not to me or Wyatt." He wheezed and then coughed.

Paige helped him into a more comfortable position. "Shh, take it easy, ok? Try to rest and don't talk too much." He nodded weakly and she glared at her sister, silently admonishing her for upsetting him.

Phoebe nodded and kept caressing his wrist, offering him silent support and love. They all stayed in silence for some time while Chris tried to control his breathing.

Phoebe looked at her watch and realized that it had been one hour since Leo left to investigate the antidote and three hours since Chris appeared in the backroom of P3. A thought suddenly hit her with the strength of a truck. The poison ran its course in 48 hours. How much had Chris left? Her breath quickened when she thought about the possibility of losing her nephew. No, no, no!

She closed her eyes and tried to calm down; she didn't want to upset him further. "Sweetheart, do you remember what time it was when Xanchek hurt you with the athame?" she asked trying to hide the anxiousness and terrible fear she felt in that moment.

Chris frowned trying to remember. "Monday, I think. Noon maybe." He managed to say.

The empath let out a huge sigh of relief. They still had time. "Thank God!" she exclaimed and kissed her nephew's temple.

"What are you talking about, Phoebe?" Paige asked confused. She hadn't seen the memory, so she didn't know the properties of the poison running in her nephew's bloodstream.

Phoebe opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Piper's arrival. She entered the room carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and some crackers.

"Hey!" she greeted softly. "I made you some chicken soup, it will make you better." She said with a light smile, her eyes begging him to accept it and not reject her again.

"Sorry, I don't feel like it." He said and winced a little at Piper's broken expression.

Phoebe tried to sooth the situation. "Piper is right, Chris. You haven't eaten in days. Try to eat something." She said softly and patted his wrist.

Chris smiled softly at his aunt and Piper felt her heart clench. She longed for him to smile at her like that.

Seeing his aunt's pleading expression, Chris relented. "Ok, I will try some." He said and both aunts helped him into a reclining position in the bed. Piper sighed and put the tray in his legs. He tried to raise his hand to grab the teaspoon but felt too weak. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"I will help you, baby." Piper said eagerly and he scowled a bit at her.

"No. I can do it myself. Thanks anyway." He said. With a supreme effort he managed to rise the teaspoon and tried some of Piper's soup. He couldn't help but feel better at this. This was his comfort food, his mother made it to him every time he felt sick. He locked eyes with Piper and saw her hurt eyes. Some part of him felt some vindictive pleasure, but the other part of him felt a bit bad. He sighed and decided to be a little less cold, at least for the time being. "Thanks, Piper. It's good." He said softly and kept eating.

A couple of tears fell down Piper's cheeks. Lately she could do nothing but cry. The sound of her name in his lips sounded horrible and the looks he sent her way were painful. She could see he was really hurt by her past actions and that broke her heart.

But, even if he was hurting because of her, he tried to ease some of her pain a moment ago by thanking her for the soup. That made her smile though her tears, he was good like that. "You're welcome, Chris. You'll see it will make you better." She responded sweetly.

He couldn't help but remember one of the many times his mother had said something like that to him when he was a child.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_Eight year old Chris whimpered in pain and clutched his stomach. "Mommy, hurts." He chocked. _

_Piper pulled him into her lap and kissed his forehead. "I know, Peanut. If I could take away your pain I would do it in a second, baby. Now eat some soup, it will help settle your stomach and you will feel better, ok?" she asked softly and he nodded weakly. _

_Piper smiled in satisfaction and sat him in the bed against a pile of pillows. She put the tray over his legs and he grabbed the teaspoon but didn't eat. "Go on, Peanut. It will make you feel better." He nodded but stayed put. "Do you trust mommy, Chris?" _

_He looked up. "Yeah, I trust you mommy." _

_Piper smiled and ruffled his dark mop of hair. "Good, because mommy would never lead you wrong. Eat something and then I will give you your medicine, ok? But you need some food on your stomach. Please, baby, eat something." _

_He took a deep breath and filled the teaspoon with chicken soup. He started to eat slowly and Piper let out a relieved sigh. _

"_You're such a good boy, Peanut." He smiled at her and she returned it with a goofy smile of her own. "Mommy loves you very, very much, Peanut. You'll feel better after this, I promise." With those words she kissed him in the head and watched him fondly while he ate the soup. _

OoOoOoOoOoOo

He sighed and the three girls looked at him. He flushed slightly and put the teaspoon in the tray. "No more, please." He said.

"Are you sure?" asked Piper. He had eaten very little. Just a few teaspoons and a cracker.

He nodded and laid back against the pillows. Piper took the tray from his legs and stood up. "I will be back in a jiffy." She said and walked out of the room.

Chris closed his eyes and tried to rest. He had felt incredibly uncomfortable a moment ago when he had remembered his mother. He couldn't compare his mother with Piper just because she had made him food. They were completely different and he wasn't ready to give Piper a chance to become the mother he remembered from his childhood and early teenage years. He still felt hurt by her past words and actions and wasn't ready to forgive her.

He felt a caress in his chin and opened his eyes. Paige looked at him with a sad smile. "Rest a bit, honey. Everything will be better when you wake up."

He nodded weakly and closed his eyes again. He didn't think that things would be better when he woke up. If he woke up. He was feeling worst by the minute and didn't trust in Leo to come up with the antidote.

Phoebe and Paige watched over him for a few minutes until he fell asleep. Both sighed, got up from the bed and got out from the room.

"Where is Leo, Phoebe? What's taking him so long?" Paige asked her urgently in the hallway.

"I don't know, sweetie. I just hope he gets here soon. The poison is eating at him." She finished brokenly and both embraced tightly, trying to give and receive some sort of comfort.

A couple of minutes later Leo appeared in a flurry of white and blue orbs. The sisters separated from the embrace and looked at him with blind hope. "Find anything?" Paige asked.

Leo nodded gravely. "Yes. I talked to the Elders and they told me that the poison and the antidote appeared in the Grimoire. So I went to West Andes and searched for the Source's Grimoire." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fortunately, the poison it's in there, so I copied down the ingredients needed to make the antidote." He pulled out a piece of paper from his shirt.

The girls sighed in relief and Paige snatched the piece of paper, her eyes moving rapidly over the contents of the paper. "We have almost everything here. I will start immediately on the potion." She moved to Leo and signalled a couple of ingredients in the paper. "I will need some of these. Can you get them?"

"I will get them. You go and start with the rest of the ingredients. She nodded and with a last look at the occupant of her bedroom moved down the stairs. Leo took a peak at the sleeping figure. "How he's doing, Phoebe?" he asked worriedly.

"Not good, Leo. He managed to eat some soup, but he's really in bad shape. The sedatives ran its course but we didn't give him some more for fear of an overdose."

"How much time do we have?" he asked remembering the memory.

"A day or so, I reckon."

He let out a sigh a relief, they still had time. Everything would be ok, had to be ok. "I will go and find the ingredients that Paige needs. Be right back." With those words he orbed out.

"Hurry up, Leo. Chris needs you." She murmured and walked down the stairs to see if she was needed in the making of the antidote.

Five minutes later she sat again at her nephew's side. Her sisters had everything under control in the kitchen. She sighed and grabbed his hand again, not really knowing if she was doing that to comfort him or comfort herself.

"_To be continued…"_

**AN2:** Don't forget to review, please ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**AN:** I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I've been a little busy (classes started) and since I didn't have a beta, I didn't want to post. Thankfully, I found one for this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks so much for the lovely reviews, too. :)

This chapter was beta'ed by the awesome **sunsetdreamer**. Thank you so much!

**Chapter 7**

_*Twenty minutes later*_

"Pass me the spider's silk, please." Piper said to Paige, without raising her eyes from the ingredients on the table.

Paige passed her the ingredient and then went back to her chopping. A few moments later she raised her eyes and watched the clock. It was eleven forty in the evening. She had found Chris more than five hours ago. It felt so much longer than that. She sighed and Piper looked at her confusedly.

Paige decided to talk about her feelings. Even if she and Piper were standing on shaky ground, she needed to talk to someone. "I feel… confused." She said while she deposited the belladonna in the bowl and grabbed the frog's eyes.

"Confused about what, Paige?" the oldest sister asked.

Paige raised the frog's eyes, stared at them with distaste and then put them carefully outside of the bowl. "I have never been of the mushy type, you know? I even formed part of a small group of anti-sappy people in high school where we made fun of the sweet and lovable people. I'm not very good at comforting people or saying sweet and kind words." She shrugged and stared at her sister, who by this point was paying her utmost attention. "I don't like to talk around the issue, I like to grab the bull by its horns and be done with it. I just… don't do sweet." She finished lamely and stared at Piper, hoping she would understand where she was going.

Piper eyed her. "I know that, Paige. But I don't understand exactly what it is you're trying to say." She finished softly, her eyes pleading her sister to go on, to confide in her, to forgive and trust her again.

Paige saw that look and relented. "When Wyatt was born I felt this amazing feeling in my chest. I loved him instantly and made a promise to myself that I would always be there for him. That feeling has been growing steadily since his birth." She took a pause and stared at the kitchen's ceiling. "When I found out about Chris' identity I felt the same. This huge and irrational love and need to protect. The following days after his secret came out were really hard on me; I felt, still feel by the way, so much guilt and shame for our actions towards him that I had a hard time concentrating or thinking about anything else but him. And… this confuses me and scares me, a lot. At least with Wyatt I had your entire pregnancy to get used to being an Auntie and to having that deep feeling. With Chris it was just… instantaneous and I didn't have time to prepare for this onslaught of emotions." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Piper grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "As I said before, I don't usually do sweet, just sarcastic. But with him, I have whispered sweet nothings in his ear trying to make him feel good. When he smiled at me the other night I melted. I _melted_, Piper. I feel like… I'm a pile of goo on his hands, and this is a new sensation for me. I used to laugh at Phoebe when she made stupid faces at Wyatt and stuff like that; and now I'm doing those things with Chris. Not the faces, mind you. He would scowl at me and wouldn't talk to me for _ages_." She finished smiling softly.

Piper laughed softly at that last comment. "Yeah, I can picture his face if you suddenly started to make faces at him." She took a pause and locked eyes with her baby sister. "I guess that your maternal instincts are kicking in."

"But I don't want to have a child yet." Paige said confusedly.

Piper smiled at her confused face. "My maternal instincts kicked in when I was in a biology class in 8th grade. Not that I wanted to have children at the time." She drew comforting circles on Paige's arm. "I'm not an Aunt yet. I became a mother first, which I guess is the ultimate feeling for a woman. Maybe an Aunt love is the next best thing. What you described just now is pretty much what I feel for him or Wyatt. Maybe my feelings are stronger because he's my son, but I'm guessing you will feel that same way when you have children of your own."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." She took a pause and smiled broadly. "Being an Auntie rocks." She said softly, and then frowned. "How can I control these emotions flowing though me? I don't want to smother the kid."

"That's a hard question you got there, Paige. I don't think I have a good answer for that." She took a deep breath and tilted her head. "I guess the best thing is time. Time will help you and I control these emotions. Right now I feel an overpowering need to nurture and protect Wyatt because he's a little and defenceless baby." She laughed at her sister's incredulous look. "He may be the Twice Blessed child and have a shield and the ability to summon a dragon from the TV, but he's still a baby who needs his parents and aunts to love him, protect him and care for him. So yeah, even with all his power he's defenceless in the grand scheme of things. Maybe when he's older, and I mean way older, like thirty or so, I will have a much better control over my feelings and needs."

"Do you feel like that with Chris, even if he's an adult?" Paige asked softly.

"Yeah," Piper started to say softly. "My first born is just ten months old, Paige. I'm not ready to see my child flying out of the nest. Neither of them. Big Chris arrived in a point in my life where I'm new to motherhood, when I'm learning and experiencing new and wondrous things. Just because he's an adult doesn't mean that I don't feel the urge to wrap him in my arms and never let go for fear that something _might_ happen to him while I'm not watching." She shrugged and looked out of the window. "I'm scared for these feelings too, you know. A few days ago I wished he could disappear," her voice broke at those words. "And now I love him so, so much. The past few hours have been hell, Paige. I was just beginning to wrap my head around the image of him being hurt by me, and now he's hurt again, _poisoned_ by a son of a bitch who wanted to teach him a lesson. Seeing him in your bed, bleeding and whimpering in pain…" A sob escaped her lips and she hid her face in her hands.

Paige hugged her tightly. "It's an awful and maddening feeling, this useless. We are his family and the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches in history, and we can't heal him." The two of them embraced in silence for a couple of minutes, just enjoying being this close again. "He will be ok, Piper. Leo will come back soon with the remaining ingredients, and we will prepare the antidote. You'll see." She said softly while she played with her sister's long hair.

"God, Paige, I hope so. I can't l-lose him."

"You won't. He will be ok and then you will be able to have a chance to earn his forgiveness and trust."

Piper broke the embrace and stared at her sister with blind hope. "Do you think that he'll forgive me?" she asked anxiously.

Paige sighed. "In the premonition Phoebe and I had of him," she swallowed. "He looked broken when he held you in his arms." She paused and squeezed her sister's hand. "I know that he has trouble seeing you as his mother." Piper closed her eyes in pain and guilt. "But, you can earn that place, Piper. Don't give up. He's tight lipped and hard to deal with at times. But he's a good kid at heart, and I'm sure, even if he doesn't admit it for the life of him, that deep down in his heart, he needs his mom." She finished with blurred eyes. "That's why I've been so mad at you. He told Phoebe and me that his mother was perfect. In the couple of times I have been able to talk to him, I have seen that he's in a lot of pain. He hides it well but I was able to see it. And the fact that we helped in that pain, just _breaks_ me." She took a pause, trying to calm down. It wouldn't do to break down at the moment; they still had to do a potion. "Last friday night Phoebe and I managed to break a little through his wall, and then you said all those _awful_ things about him, about us, and that hurt him so much. He tried to deny it to me, but I knew that your words broke him."

Piper sobbed and embraced her sister again. "How am I going to earn his forgiveness, Paige? I screwed up so badly!"

"Be there for him, Piper. Show him how much you love him. Try to understand and help him." She broke the embrace and wiped her eyes. "It won't be easy, but we'll be there for you." She finished and smiled softly.

Piper smiled too. "You forgive me, then?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I forgive you. I have seen you in the last couple of days. I think you're punishing yourself enough. You don't need more recriminations coming from me. As Phoebe said, we're all at fault."

"But you were not so horrible to him." Piper said quietly.

"No, we weren't. But we were not the most helpful either." She raised her eyes and saw that it was ten minutes past midnight. "Let's go; Leo is going to appear anytime, we must have the rest of the ingredients ready."

"Yeah, you're right." Piper said and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. The conversation had been really cathartic for the two of them, but they really needed to finish slicing and preparing the ingredients for the antidote.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Phoebe sighed and stared at her nephew. His cheeks were starting to flush and sweat was forming on his brow. She frowned and she touched softly his forehead.

She swore lowly when she felt his burning flesh. She bit her lower lip in worry; he was getting worse by the minute. A few minutes later he shook his head and moaned.

"Chris, sweetheart." She said in worry, fear gripping her heart at the sight in front of her. They were starting to lose him.

Chris moaned again. "Bianca." He murmured and his aunt frowned.

"Bianca? Who is Bianca?" Phoebe asked herself aloud. Of course, she didn't get an answer; her nephew was delirious in his fever and pain and was trapped in whatever dream he was having.

She sighed and tried to calm down her racing heart. Her nephew's brow was wrinkled and he had a grimace of pain on his face. He was looking more flushed by the second and his breathing was becoming more and more laboured.

She closed her eyes and prayed that Leo would come soon so her sisters could make the antidote.

She stifled a yawn; it had been a long night. Maybe Xanchek's revenge could wait a few hours, until all of them rested a bit so they could plan a better retribution and actually enjoy it.

She focused her eyes on Chris and saw his pained face and heard his pained whimpers; he was calling for _Bianca_ again. "Darn it, Leo, hurry up!" she murmured, itching to do something to help ease the boy's pain.

A minute or so later her pleas were heard and Leo appeared in a flurry of orbs. "How is he?" he asked with a worried voice as soon as he finished reforming.

"He hasn't woken up since you left." She sniffled a little. "He developed a fever and he's getting worse by the minute, Leo." She stopped her rapt contemplation and turned to her brother in law. "Did you get the ingredients?" she asked hopefully.

Leo nodded and laid a hand on the pocket in his pants.

Phoebe let out a relieved sigh. "Good. Now move along and help my sisters. I'm guessing they must be ready by now."

He nodded but didn't speak. He stared at his son for a few seconds and Phoebe could see the depth of his love and worry.

He was going to orb out but was stopped by his son's murmurs.

"Bianca… I want Bianca…" Chris murmured low in his delirious state and Leo looked confused at his sister in law.

"Who is Bianca?" he asked worriedly.

Phoebe shrugged. "No idea." A small pause. "Hurry up, Leo! We will find out who that girl is when he's cured!"

Leo nodded gravely and orbed out. Phoebe gently caressed his bangs. "Everything is going to be ok, sweetheart. The antidote will be ready at any minute and you will be just fine. Just… slow down with the demon hunting, ok? I don't know if we can take more episodes like this."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Leo orbed in the kitchen and saw the two sisters busy checking the ingredients. A cauldron was already boiling. "Finally! What took you so long?" cried Piper while she stood up and snatched the ingredients from his hand.

"Sorry, I had to go to the Patagonia to search for this particular kind of plant."

"Whatever." Paige dismissed him with her hand while she peered at the ingredients. After a moment or two she stared at her brother in law. "They look good, it will have to do."

With those words she started to prepare the antidote, putting the sliced items in the cauldron.

"Did you see him, Leo? How is he?" asked Piper anxiously while she hovered over her sister, alert if Paige needed any help.

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's getting worse. He broke into a fever and he's delirious. He keeps calling for some girl named Bianca, and it's easy to hear his distress." He said worriedly.

"Bianca? Who's Bianca?" Piper barked.

Leo shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe a girlfriend." He said hopelessly, staring a hole into Paige's working hands, urging her to go faster.

"A what?" Piper nearly shrieked, feeling an intense jealousy of her baby boy's possible girlfriend. "He's too young to have a girlfriend!" she said.

Paige snorted. "He's twenty two, Piper. That qualifies as old enough to date." She raised her eyes and gazed at them. "Would you stop hovering over me?" She directed at Piper. "And you, stop boring holes in my hands with your eyes. Jeez, you're making me nervous."

"Sorry." The couple mumbled at the same time and did as she asked. Piper went to Leo and he embraced her, both starting to feel hope that everything would be alright for their young son.

Piper frowned. "I don't like this Bianca."

"You don't even know her, Piper." Paige said without taking her eyes off the cauldron.

Piper raised her chin and eyed her sister defiantly. "Well, if it's true and she's Chris' girlfriend… I don't like her. At all." She finished petulantly.

Leo chuckled softly. "Jealous, are you?"

"Very." Piper nearly growled.

The two of them fell into silence and let Paige concentrate in her work. The minutes passed and the youngest sister busied herself in the potion.

"It's done!" she said excitedly while she raised a cup with the antidote on it. She eyed the clock; it was already one fifteen in the morning.

The married couple stood up and got close to her. They examined the greenish liquid with a critical eye. "It is supposed to be this color?" Piper asked sceptically.

"Yes, the entry in the Grimoire said that it would have to be green." Leo said with a concentrated look in his face.

The sisters nodded stiffly and orbed to Paige's bedroom, intent on giving Chris the antidote as soon as possible.

When they appeared in the bedroom Phoebe eyed them with teary eyes and they felt a pang in their chest.

"What is it?" Piper asked afraid of the answer.

Phoebe wiped her eyes and stood up from her spot in the bed. "He's in so much pain and hot at the moment! I managed to give him other medicines; one sedative and another pill to lower his fever, but nothing is working. Do you have the antidote ready?" she asked hopefully.

Paige raised the cup and sat at Chris' side, careful of not spilling the contents. She caressed his flushed cheek. "Little angel, wake up for Auntie, please." She said softly and he moaned lowly in pain.

Piper sat at his other side and grabbed his hand. "Please, baby. Wake up. We made the antidote. You need to drink it now, baby." She pleaded.

After a few moments he managed to open his eyes, and they all gasped at his pained look. "Hurts." He choked.

Paige caressed his cheek again. "I know that, little angel. Take this and everything will be better."

Phoebe and Piper helped him to sit in the bed and then held him. Paige raised the cup to his lips and he started to drink slowly.

A few moments later he stopped drinking. "Don't like it." He wheezed.

"You have to drink it all, Chris." Leo said sharply. They were so close…

"Please, baby, drink it. There's just a little bit left." Piper said while she squeezed his hand and Paige brought the cup back to his lips.

"Don't wanna…" he whined.

"All of it, Chris." Paige's voice broke no chance and Chris finished the cup. Paige smiled broadly and put the cup on the nightstand. Then she and her sisters helped him back into a comfortable position. "You did well, little angel."

"You're such a good boy, Chris." Phoebe said while tears of relief ran down her cheeks. She ruffled his hair and he tried to scowl at her, but didn't manage it. "Sleep, sweetheart." She said softly, and closed his eyelids with the tips of her fingers.

A few moments later he was asleep again, all his family watching him like hawks. Piper kissed his knuckles and then let go of his hand. "He's going to be okay, right?" she murmured, feeling the need for reassurance.

Leo kissed her temple. "He will be. The antidote will start to do its job and he will be fine, you'll see, sweetheart."

She nodded and all of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, content in watching the sleeping boy.

Slowly, the fever started to go down and his pained face started to relax.

One hour after taking the antidote he was breathing normally, his face had color again and he was sleeping peacefully. Piper touched his forehead and it was cool to the touch. "Oh, thank God." She practically sobbed in relief.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and Leo embraced his wife tightly, too overwhelmed with relief and joy. Their son was safe again.

Phoebe looked at her watch. Two thirty in the morning. She couldn't help but yawn. Paige looked at her amusedly. "Well, it has been a really, really long night." She defended herself.

"Yeah, we should all rest." Agreed Piper, but she didn't move from her spot at Chris' side.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart." Leo said softly. "I'll stay with him in case he needs something."

"But I don't want to leave him alone." Piper protested.

Phoebe grabbed her hand. "Chris will be okay, Piper. He will be asleep for many hours. We should rest too." She helped her too stand up from the bed. "If there's something wrong, Leo will tell us."

Piper gazed at her son and then nodded resignedly. Phoebe was right; they needed to rest for a few hours at least.

"Can I sleep with you, Phoebe?" asked Paige softly, mindful of her sleeping nephew.

She nodded and the sisters left the room with a last loving look towards the sleeping boy. Leo moved carefully to the edge of the bed, his eyes intent on his son's face, memorizing every detail and thanking God that they were able to save him.

After a few minutes, the first tears of relief and pent up emotions fell from his eyes.

"_To be continued..."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**AN:** I'm very, very sorry for the long wait for this chapter. This is my last semester at uni, so I have my hands full with the thesis and the pre-production (right now) of a 12-16 minute short film.

I have half a dozen or so chapters already written, but since I haven't been able to advance in my writing for several weeks, I don't want to update and then run out of written chapters. Hopefully, I'll be able to dedicate some time to my writing during the holidays. *Cross fingers*

Just for the record, I have planned 30 chapters for this story.

The last scene here is my version of Chris and Leo's conversation in **Spin City**. So if you recognize a line, it's not mine, it's the screenwriters.

The next couple of chapters will be my version of **Sword in the City**.

I hope you like this chapter, and thank you very much for the rr and support. You guys rock ;)

This chapter was beta'ed by the awesome and super cool **sunsetdreamer**. Thank you so much!

**Chapter 8**

_*The next afternoon__, december 18__th__, 2003. Paige's bedroom*_

Chris slowly came to consciousness and felt confused for a few moments. He wasn't resting in his bed in the backroom of P3. This bed felt soft and comfortable unlike the one at the club.

Ever so slowly, his memories from the past few days started to come back. Reckless demon hunting, being a prisoner of Xanchek's and then being poisoned. His Aunt Paige finding him in P3. The rest was kind of blurry, but he remembered soft words and caresses from his aunts and parents. He grimaced at the last thought, it was one thing coming from his Aunts, but his parents were a completely different thing.

He moved slowly in the bed and let out a sigh of relief when he felt no pain. He was completely cured and rested. He stood up and stretched his muscles.

In that moment the door opened and Piper walked in. "You're awake!" she cried in surprise, a nervous smile playing at her lips.

Chris turned and stared at her. "Yeah." He said sheepishly.

Piper moved to the chair and grabbed a pair of clean clothes. Then she walked to him while hugging the clothes to her chest. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" she asked worriedly, her hands itching to touch him.

"I'm fine." He said softly, feeling uncomfortable in the woman's presence.

She nodded, feeling his tension. Her heart tightened at the thought that her son was uncomfortable in her presence. After a few moments in silence, she extended the clothes and he grabbed them. "These are yours; Paige orbed to P3 and grabbed a change of clothes. If you want to take a shower…" she didn't finish.

He smirked and touched his unshaved chin. "Thanks. I guess I really need to freshen up." He said dryly and wrinkled his nose. Piper thought he looked adorable.

She smiled adoringly at him and he cleared his throat, hoping to pull her out of her musings. As long as they didn't talk about _it_, he would be fine. Extremely uncomfortable, but fine.

"So, um," she started to say. "Take all the time you need." She looked at her watch; it was already 3:30 in the afternoon. "You must be hungry, I saved you some food." She looked at him with such a hopeful expression that he couldn't resist it.

"Okay, I will eat something later. Thanks." With those words he orbed to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he walked down the stairs, his hair wet and his face shaved. He felt much better after the shower and he hoped that Piper wouldn't darken his mood with questions or recriminations.

He stopped midway though the stairs and paid attention to his surroundings, the house was too silent. So that meant he was alone with her.

He sighed and braced himself. A few moments later he entered the kitchen. His mouth watered when he saw the pasta with Alfredo sauce waiting for him.

"Thanks, Piper." He said and sat at the table. Piper stilled in her movements and her breath caught in her throat. Her name sounded completely horrible coming from him.

"Y-you're welcome," she managed to say without breaking down right there. She walked closer to him and put a glass of apple juice in front of him. "Here, drink some juice. You must be thirsty."

He nodded and drank a few sips. "Where is everyone?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

She sat in front of him and folded her hands in her lap. "Leo sat by your side until an hour ago, when he was called to an emergency Elder meeting." Chris maintained his imperturbable face and she sighed. "Phoebe went to a meeting with Elise and Paige went to pick up Wyatt at Darryl's. I think that right now Phoebe is accompanying Paige and they took Wyatt to an indoor park near Castro Avenue."

Chris nodded but said nothing. He took a few mouthfuls of the pasta and Piper just gazed at him. A few minutes later he finished his plate. "Do you want some more?" asked Piper.

"No, it's ok. Thanks." He stood up and walked to the sink.

"You don't have to do that, Chris. I will wash the plate." She said and stood up.

Chris raised a hand and stopped her. "It's ok, doing the dishes relaxes me." He said and Piper nodded, then she sat again.

A couple of minutes later he was drying his hands when Piper cleared her throat. He turned toward her questionably.

"You know," she started to say softly. She had debated with herself for a while and decided to grab the bull by its horn. She _needed_ to talk to him. "A year or so after Phoebe, P-Prue and I started our witchcraft, Phoebe had a premonition that she was burning at the stake."

Chris furrowed his brow, he had heard that story, or at least part of it when he was a kid. His Aunt Prue had told him about that alternate future.

Piper continued with a far away look on her face. "We travelled to that future and were trapped in our future selves' bodies. Leo and I were divorced and we had a seven or so year old girl, Melinda."

"I remember that story." Chris said softly, confused with the conversation.

"Yeah, we probably told you while you were growing up." She smiled softly and he shifted his feet, unsure of what to do. "My maternal instincts kicked in when I was 14, and since that moment I wanted to have kids, preferably boys. Then I embraced the witchcraft and saw the every Halliwell in history had been a woman. So I thought I was going to have girls. I was ok by it, as long as I had children. Then I saw Melinda in that future and couldn't help but love her. She was _mine_. A couple of years later, after Prue's d-death and Paige's arrival, I desperately wanted to become a mother. Leo and I tried and tried and it didn't work. I went to the doctor and he told me that I had received many blows in the abdomen area so I wouldn't be able to conceive a child." She swallowed and turned her pained eyes to him. "I was _devastated_. I was never going to have a child; Melinda or anyone else."

Chris swallowed, his mother had talked to him about this when he had been a teenager. He closed his eyes and repeated the familiar mantra that this was Piper, not his mother. But when he opened his eyes again and saw her brown orbs full of tears and longing, he relented and sat at her side, offering her some silent comfort.

She smiled softly at him and couldn't help but caress his cheek. She felt that her heart might burst when he didn't move away inmediately. "Then, a few months later, the Angel of Destiny informed me that I was pregnant. The happiness and joy I felt was… tremendous. I don't even have words to express it. I was scared out of my mind too. I feared that all the demon hunting would harm my baby, or that I would follow Halliwell tradition and leave my child motherless." She felt him stiffen beside her at those words and immediately wanted to kick herself. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. I'd never have wanted to leave my children alone." She said while she caressed softly his cheek. This time he shied away from her. She swallowed and folded her hands again, looking at the floor.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again, staring at the window. "Go on." He said softly, not wanting to dwell on his mother's death.

She nodded and raised her eyes again, staring at his face. "We all thought that it was going to be a girl, Melinda." She smiled softly. "Then the baby was born and it was a huge surprise when it turned out to be a boy. I immediately felt a love so huge and beautiful that words can't express it. Wyatt was a miracle, a gift from God." She took a pause. "After what the doctor told me all those months ago, I felt that Wyatt was the best and most beautiful thing in my life. Maybe I wouldn't have more children like I originally wanted, but I had Wyatt." Their eyes locked and Chris gulped at the love radiating from her eyes. "And now I know that I have you, too. I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful and precious miracle, but I'm eternally grateful for that." She finished and a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.

Chris looked away, her words impacting him full force. During the conversation he had seen his mother several times. He shook his head, her words were beautiful and all that, but he wasn't ready to accept her as his mother. Besides, he had trouble accepting or understanding the sudden love. "You don't even know me." He managed to say softly.

Piper sighed. "You will understand this overpowering feeling when you have kids of your own. You don't have to know them to love them, you'll adore them just because they're yours. Then, as the time passes and the children grow, you'll love them even more, because you get to know them."

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, both too overwhelmed by the conversation. Chris stood up and moved away from her. She sighed, incapable of hiding her disappointment. He felt uncomfortable, feeling that Piper was trying to merge with the mother he loved and sorely missed. He couldn't have that. "Don't do this." He murmured.

"Don't do what?" She asked confused.

"Don't try to become my mother. I don't want it." He said bitterly without looking at her.

After hearing those words Piper felt that her heart would shatter. "But I am your mother." She said softly while she made a huge effort to not break down in front of him.

"No, you're not!" he snapped and made the mistake of looking at her. At her devastated face he softened his voice a little. "Look, I'm not even conceived yet, so you're not my mother." She opened her mouth to protest his statement but he quieted her with a look. "Piper, I feel confused and angry. In the last few years I haven't been the most sane person to be around. One minute I like something and the next I hate it. My thoughts and feelings are very confusing most of the time. These emotions have been stronger since I came back from the future."

He stayed in silence for a while and Piper waited patiently, hoping that he would keep talking to her so she would understand his sudden change of topic. Her wish was granted a few moments later. "I know that I have lied and manipulated since I arrived in your home. I lied about Paige's death at the Titans' hands. I tricked Leo into becoming an Elder. I came into your lives and kept pestering you about demon hunting and protecting Wyatt. I have a ruthless and obsessive streak in me." He took a pause and cleared his throat. "A part of me thinks that I deserved your treatment for all the things I did, here and in my time."

He was cut off by Piper. "_No_, Chris! Never think that. My sisters, husband and I were at fault, you never, never deserved our treatment." She shook her head vehemently while a new batch of tears fell down her face.

He shrugged and Piper felt desperate. "Other times, I feel… betrayed and pained. I've wanted to scream abuse at the lot of you many times since I arrived." He cleared his throat and had a far away look in his face. "All my life," he started to say slowly and lowly and Piper had to make an effort to hear him. "I have been the baby of the house. I had a mother who completely loved me and nurtured me, and a set of Aunts who adored me and spoiled me and helped you to raise me." He swallowed and blinked several times trying to get rid of the moisture in his eyes. "Those days of my childhood are long gone, but I still remembered and missed all of you. So, maybe that was why it has been so hard for me to bear your treatment." He stared at her. "When I was a kid you never looked at me in the wrong way… and now…" he shrugged but didn't finish.

Piper understood perfectly. "And now I don't have words to express my guilt and shame over my actions and words in the past months. I wish I could erase my past deeds and make it better for you, baby. But I can't and I will have to live with this pain, guilt and horror for the rest of my life." Her voice broke. "I almost k-k-killed you when I blew you up."

Chris shrugged again, fully uncomfortable with the emotionally painful conversation. "Yeah, that hurt." He said softly and his eyes diverted again.

Piper stood up, grabbed him by the shoulders and making him look at her. "Please, please, Chris. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness or love, but I _need_ it. You're my son and I can't stand the thought that you hate me. You and your brother are the most precious things in my life. Last night has been one of the most horrible moments in my life when I was afraid that I would lose you before having the chance to know you and earn a place in your life." She took a pause and sniffled a little. "Please give me a chance to earn your forgiveness, to love you and care for you."

Chris swallowed the lump in his throat and carefully disentangled himself. Then he took a deep breath and tried to organize his thoughts and feelings. "I could never hate you, Piper. I feel mad and frustrated and disappointed, but I could not hate you. You look too much like the mother I had to feel that way about you." He finished lowly and choked a bit. "You probably think I'm crazy or something. You may look like her, but I can't really see you as her. Not now, maybe ever. I don't know." He shrugged and then kept talking while Piper tried to control her crying. "Maybe I deserved your treatment. Maybe not. I'm probably being immature or petty, but right now I can't get over your words and actions. With your sisters it's easier because they weren't so…" he didn't say the word 'horrible', but Piper caught it in his silence and felt even more pain. "Besides," he continued slowly. "I lost my mother a long time ago and I got used to being in a life where she doesn't exist. I don't know if I can change my mindset. You see, I'm used to taking care of myself." He shrugged. "Sure, I have had help, and not every member of the family is gone, but I have lost too many people. That's why I didn't want any of you to know my identity. Not only did I not know if I could forget the horrors and the loss from my past, but I didn't want any of you to know of it. To know about your deaths or the monster that Wyatt is in my life. I guess I wanted to protect all of you from that."

He was stopped by a loud sob and turned to gaze at her. He sighed at her pain filled eyes and moved to kneel in front of her. He hesitated for a few moments, but decided to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. "I'm sorry about Leo, by the way. I did send him to Valhalla and turn him into an Elder." He looked out of the window for a couple of minutes. "That happened in my timeline, too. Sure, it happened a few months later. The Elders were practically decimated from the Titans attack and they were in dire need of some order, so Leo accepted the position. I just changed the scenario a bit. What I wasn't expecting was that you would break up, you see. That didn't happen in my time, so it took me by complete surprise." He took another pause and squeezed her hand. "I may be vindictive, but not that much. At least not to you or my Aunts. No child wishes their parents would break up. I'm no exception there. So, what I'm saying is that… please believe me when I say that I didn't want to hurt you that way. I wanted Leo out of the way for a while, so I could be your Whitelighter and be closer to Wyatt. I didn't want to separate you." He chuckled a bit. "That would be really stupid of me, you know. I need you together if I'm planning on being born." He finished softly.

"I-I u-understand." She choked and squeezed his hand tightly, afraid that this touch would be the last one she would have. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of voices in the hallway. She wiped her eyes swiftly and stood up to receive her sisters.

"Piper! We're home!" Phoebe said while she walked in the kitchen with a sleeping Wyatt in her arms. Her eyes lit up when she saw Chris. "You're awake!" she exclaimed excitedly.

He smiled shyly and stood up too.

Paige entered behind her. "Shh, you're going to wake Wyatt up. Give him to me." She said and orbed out.

Now feeling free, Phoebe yelled happily and launched herself at Chris. She hugged him tightly and kissed him several times on his cheeks and temples.

"Jeez, Phoebe. You're small but you're choking me." He tried to joke, instantly feeling better with the presence of his Aunt. The conversation with Piper had been really emotional.

She broke the embrace and then smacked him softly. "Don't you ever, ever, ever scare me like that again, ok? Do you understand that, mister?" she mock scowled at him and he flashed her a smile.

Chris scrunched his nose. "I'll try. Promise. Believe me, being poisoned was not my idea of entertainment." He said dryly.

Piper smiled wistfully, seeing the easy going interaction he had with her sister. She dearly hoped that she would have a relationship like that with him. "How did it go, Pheebs?" she asked softly.

Phoebe turned to her sister and realized that she had been crying. Maybe she and Chris had been talking before they arrived. Darn, she and Paige had a rotten timing. She sighed and decided to talk to her sister later. "Well, thank God this was the last meeting of the year. I will work here the rest of the week and then I will have ten wonderful free days."

"That's good. Christmas is next week." Piper answered softly and eyed Chris, who was staring intently at his Aunt, ignoring her completely.

"Yeah, I will go tomorrow to the mall and buy my presents for Wyatt. And for you, of course." Phoebe winked to Chris. Then she turned to her sister again. "You should have seen him in the park today, Piper. He had a blast playing with the toy truck and then he played with some other kids."

"Wasn't it too cold?" The mother asked worriedly.

Phoebe waved her hand. "No. The place is completely indoors and has hot air. It's a nice place. We should take him more often."

Paige chose that moment to appear in a flurry of orbs. She went to Chris and kissed him on the cheek. "Glad you're fine, little angel." She murmured to him and he smiled at her.

"Thanks, Paige." He said softly.

She scowled at him. "It's _Aunt_ Paige, mister. I will not have you calling me any other way."

Chris smirked at her but said nothing. He felt a pair of eyes on the back of his head and turned around to see Phoebe, who had an expectant expression on her face. "What?"

"Can I ask you something?" she asked and bit her thumb.

Chris shrugged. "Sure. But I reserve the right to not answer."

"You know, when you were sleeping in the morning we did the summoning spell to bring Xanchek here and vanquish him." She frowned. "He didn't appear. We tried to find his cave but couldn't." she took a cautionary step towards him. "I know this must be hard for you, sweetie, but we need to find that piece of filth and vanquish him. So, do you remember where his cave is?"

Chris scowled. Should he reveal to them that he and Wyatt had the Power of One, a power that rivalled the Power of Three? He stayed in silence a couple of minutes, trying to figure his new problem. "Hmm, I already took care of it. He won't be a problem anymore." He decided to say in the end.

Piper frowned. "But the Book said that the Power of Three is needed to vanquish him. How did you destroy him?" she asked him confusedly.

The boy scowled a bit. "I can't tell you that." The sisters glared at him, infuriated with his lack of forwardness. "Look, the important thing is that he's hopefully enjoying his trip to the demonic wasteland. How I got him there is irrelevant. I had to do it to get out of his cavern, which is protected against any type of sensing or scrying, by the way. That's why you couldn't find it."

"Okay mister," Phoebe started to say. "We won't ask you about it anymore, at least for now. Sooner or later you will have to tell us how you vanquished a Power of Three demon." She crossed her arms over her chest and he smirked, showing her that he didn't feel threatened at all by her words. "Can I ask you another thing?"

"And please, give us a straight answer, not an infuriating one." Paige piped in, smirking playfully at him.

"I will try my best, but I won't promise anything." He said.

"Who's Bianca?" The middle sister asked curiously and her sisters turned to him with expectant looks.

Chris stiffened. "How do you know about her?" he asked warily.

"Last night you had a high fever, so you were delirious and calling for her." Phoebe answered.

"Oh." Was Chris' response.

"So? Who is she?" Paige prompted after a few moments of silence.

Chris sighed and run a hand though his hair. "She's my fiancée." He winced when a plate exploded near the sink. He stared at Piper confused and Paige outright laughed at her oldest sister.

"You're so jealous, Piper!" she managed to say and grabbed Chris' arm to support herself.

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am jealous. So?" She challenged her sisters and none of them challenged her back. Then she turned to Chris with worried eyes. "Aren't you too young to be engaged?" she asked and bit her lip.

Chris shrugged again. "In the future where I came from there are really few opportunities of happiness. A chance presented itself to me, I took it and ran away with it." He paused and the sisters saw his far away look. "Besides, you don't know if this day is going to be your last." He said absently.

"And that's Wyatt's fault." Phoebe said sadly.

"Yeah, partly it is. He exposed magic and demons roamed freely on the streets. People who oppose him end six feet under ground."

"Oh God!" Piper exclaimed and closed her eyes in pain. Phoebe embraced her tightly, hoping to bring her some support.

Chris sighed. "Look, this is why I didn't want you to know about Wyatt's evilness. It's hard and painful and I wanted to save you the pain." He stared at Piper's pained face. "I have to go." And he orbed swiftly.

"No! Don't go!" Piper said brokenly but it was too late, he had already orbed out. "I didn't even have the chance to ask him to stay here in the Manor." She said desperately.

Paige closed her eyes and sensed for him. He was at the Bridge. "I found him. I'll talk to him about it, ok?" Her sisters nodded and she orbed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey you!" she said when she reformed in one of the highest beams of the Golden Gate Bridge. She looked down warily. "Do you really have to always orb here? I'm not a huge fan of heights."

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights, _Aunt_." He smirked at her and sat cross legged in the centre of the beam.

She smiled at the word 'Aunt' and then scrunched her nose. "I'm not afraid of heights." She said haughtily. "I'm just not a fan of them."

He smiled softly and then turned to the darkened sky. It was only five thirty in the afternoon, but the winter was about to start.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked worriedly after a while.

"Yeah. It's just… I had a hard conversation with Piper. I feel emotionally drained." He said and Paige sat by his side.

"I made a truce with her, you know. We talked a lot when we were chopping the ingredients for your antidote." She stared at a star above her. "She loves you very much and desperately wants a chance to redeem herself."

"I know, she told me about it. I'm just… I'm not ready to forgive her, to have her as my mother. I prefer her as Piper. Is easier and less painful." He said softly.

Paige sighed and hugged herself in a vain attempt to protect herself from the wind and cold. "I understand you, little angel. We will do it at your pace, ok? No pressure. Just… no more Houdini acts on us. That's really distressing. I haven't been as scared as I was last night in a long time."

Chris smiled at her and raised his arm in surrender. "Okay, no more Houdini acts on you. But I still need my liberty; I still have demons to vanquish and a brother to save."

"Okay." She said and then braced herself. "Couldn't you do that from the Manor?" she asked hopefully, turning her big, brown doe eyes on him.

"What?" he asked confusedly.

"You see, my sisters and I have been talking. We would feel really happy if you moved to the Manor."

Chris frowned. "No." he said almost immediately.

"Chris…" she started to say.

"No, I'm sorry. The lot of you are asking a lot for me." He said firmly.

"But we arranged the guestroom. We did it before lunch. I even took the day off the temp job to do it. Well, and to vanquish Xanchek too. Besides, the manor is much more comfortable than that awful room in P3."

"I didn't come to the past to play house. You know that." He practically snapped.

She lowered her eyes sadly. "I know. But we're family and Christmas is next week."

He smirked. "I'm not a fan of Christmas. I prefer Halloween."

"Christmas is special to us, Chris. Especially this one, Wyatt's first Christmas. And you're here. We want you with us." She pleaded softly.

"I'm sorry. I'm not moving to the Manor."

"Never?" Paige asked, and her lower lip trembled a bit.

Chris relented a bit at her saddened face. "At least not now. Maybe in the future. Who knows? I don't even know what I'm going to do tomorrow."

Paige sighed resignedly. At least there was hope for the future. They stood in comfortable silence for a while. Paige moved slowly and got closer to him, desperate to get some heat from him.

Chris saw her movement and chuckled. "You should go home. You're freezing your ass off."

"Am not!" she said petulantly.

"Yes, you are." He locked eyes with her. "Go home. I'm fine." At her worried look he rolled his eyes. "I will even pass by tomorrow afternoon, ok?"

"I will hold you to that, mister. Call me if you need anything, ok?" she said, and he nodded. She kissed him softly on the cheek and orbed out, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He closed his eyes and relaxed at the feeling of the wind against his face and hair. It had been a long day and he desperately wanted it to end. He pulled out a chain from under his shirt and fingered the ring that was hanging over his heart. It was Bianca's engagement ring. She had given it back to him before he travelled to the past. It was the only reminder he had of her.

He opened his eyes and stared at the scattered stars in the dark sky. He missed her a lot and sometimes felt a paralyzing fear that he would not see her ever again. If he changed the future, the two of them would be too different and might not get together. They might not even know each other in the new future where Wyatt and he were what they were supposed to be from the beginning.

He swallowed hard at those thoughts and put the ring back over his heart. He was pulled out from his painful thoughts by the sound of orbing, and he scowled darkly when he felt Leo's presence.

"Hey Chris," the Elder started to say when he reformed in front of his son. "I'm happy to see that you're fine." He said nervously, afraid of Chris' reaction to his presence.

Chris glared at him and turned his gaze away. He didn't want to deal with Leo in that particular moment. Actually, he never wanted to deal with the man. "What do you want?" he asked harshly.

Leo swallowed and braced himself. "I just wanted to see you. I was really worried about you last night. I needed to see for myself that you were okay."

"Well, thanks for your concern, Leo. I feel _touched_." He said cynically.

Leo lowered his eyes and when he raised them again to look at his son he had moisture in them. "Look, Chris, I know that I have treated you horribly since you arrived to the present and I'm-"

He was cut off rudely. "Save it, Leo. I don't want to hear your phoney excuses. I'm not in the mood to hear why you felt the need to put a sword to my neck months ago or why you wanted to recycle my soul."

"Chris, I know I don't have excuses for that. It was terrible of me but I…" he started to beg but was cut off again.

"I said I don't want to hear you." He said dangerously low. "Jeez, you say you don't have excuses, and then you start to excuse your actions. You will never change, you know? It's _pathetic_." He finished harshly, his eyes glaring daggers at the older man in front of him.

Leo felt his heart tighten. The venom in his son's voice and eyes was too much for him. "Chris, I understand that I have been horrible to you since you arrived. But it's obvious to me that we had issues in your past. Why? What did I do to you in your childhood or teenage years?" His boy didn't respond. "Talk to me, please." He pleaded softly, his voice breaking at the pain he was feeling.

"There is nothing to talk about." Chris said curtly.

"I think there is. Quite a bit, actually." The elder pressed, desperate to know what he had done wrong in his son's life.

"It doesn't matter." The boy answered, starting to get mad.

"It does to me, Chris. You're my son. I think I deserve to know what I did that's so bad." He finished and paused, hopeful that Chris would tell him.

Silence.

"Did I miss a school play?" He pressed on. Silence. "Did I take away your favourite toy?" Silence. "Did I play favourites with Wyatt?"

Chris stood up and grabbed Leo by the hem of the jacket and shook him hard. "Stop it! I'm sick of you. You know nothing of me and you will never know. You never went to a school play because you were too busy playing Elder. You were always Up There so you never took away any of my toys. You didn't play favourites with Wyatt because you were never there for us. For either of us. I don't know why you had children if you were never going to be there for them." He shook him a bit more and felt some sick pleasure at the sight of Leo's crying. "You are a complete failure. Always will be. Now leave me the fuck alone!" with those words he orbed away, immediately blocking himself.

Leo's knees collapsed and he knelt on the beam. A huge, overpowering pain grabbed hold of his heart. His son really hated him. And he was never going to be there for his kids in the future. How could that be? He deeply loved his children, how he could let them down so horribly?

Slowly, the tears transformed into heart wrenching sobs that mixed with the wind. He stayed there for hours, too emotionally broken to move.

"_To be continued"_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

**AN:** Is there anybody out there? Hello?

This is unbeta'ed, and english still it's not my first language.

If anyone is still reading this, I hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 9**

_*Three days later, december 21__th__, 2003. Saturday morning*_

Piper put the screwdriver in the table, grabbed her husband's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Leo, we waited for you last night…" she started to say in a calm voice.

Leo sighed sadly and stared out of the window. "I know, Piper, but I couldn't come to eat dinner with all of you. I didn't want to make things uncomfortable, especially for him."

Piper lowered her eyes in understanding. Her sisters had managed to convince Chris to have dinner in the Manor last night. She had invited Leo, of course, hoping that father and son would have a chance to talk things and that her husband would be able to make some advance with their son. But Leo hadn't arrived in the entire night; he didn't want to have his heart broken again by his son's harsh words and hateful glares.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when he started to talk with a hoarse voice, she raised her eyes and saw his blurred eyes and felt for him. "When he told me all those things in the bridge, I broke down, Piper. I felt an incredible pain in my chest and thought that I was going to drown in it." She moved closer to him and pulled his head into her chest, offering him some sort of comfort. "He told me that I was a terrible father that had never been there for neither he nor Wyatt." He raised his teary eyes and locked eyes with her. "How could I, Piper? I always wanted to have a family and you gave me that. I love both my sons with all my heart and I-I can't understand how I could abandon them, how I could prefer being an Elder instead of a f-father." He finished and the bitter tears fell down his cheeks, dampening Piper's blouse.

Piper hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head, making a huge effort to not cry alongside him, she had cried too much in the last week, now she needed to be strong for the man she loved. She raised her right hand and started to caress his hair. "Although it breaks me to see you like this, honey, you need to let it all out, so cry all you want." He hid his face in her blouse, cried harder and she rocked him a little like she did when she wanted to put Wyatt to sleep. "I don't really understand this, Leo. You're the most gentle and caring person I have ever met in my life, I don't get how you could possibly abandon your children."

"But that's what Chris said." Leo replied brokenly.

"I know, honey, I know. It's just that…" she shrugged, not knowing what to say exactly.

They stood in silence for a while, Piper offering her support and love and Leo basking in it. Finally Leo stopped crying and felt more control of his emotions. "At least you didn't abandon them in their lives." He said softly.

"I died, Leo. Of course I abandoned them." She managed to say.

Leo squeezed her waist. "Before _that_, Piper. You were always there for them. Apparently you were a wonderful mom." He let out a breath. "You only made mistakes in this time, unlike me."

She sighed softly. "Yeah, I made some huge mistakes." She took a pause. "I wish I could erase all my past actions and start again with him, but sadly I can't. I wish I could have the relationship that my sisters are developing with him. He hugs them and had even called them Aunt a few times." She smiled wistfully. "I wish he could call me Mom and talk to me, but deep down I know that I don't have that right, I have to earn it and I won't rest until I have his forgiveness and love. You shouldn't give up, Leo. Fight for him, show him that you love him and that you won't make the same mistakes that his father made." She kissed his head. "I know it's hard too see the distrust or resentment he feels for you. It's similar with me. He has only said twenty words to me in the last three days; he doesn't smile at me like he smiles at his aunts." She shrugged sadly.

"But at least he's civil to you." Leo said and broke the embrace.

"Yeah, he is." Piper conceded. She stared at him and smiled sadly at his unhappy stance. She kissed his nose softly. "I know this is still affecting you very much, honey. Why don't you go to try to get some peace? Maybe you will feel better."

Leo looked at her confusedly. "But you asked me to come and help you to fix some things in the house."

She turned to the disposal and scowled. "Yeah, I did." She turned to him again. "I want you to feel better and maybe being Up There or in the Bridge or in a cloud will help you. I will try to fix the things by myself, okay? She asked.

"But…" Leo started to protest.

She put a finger in his lips. "Let my try by myself first. If I can't fix them, I will call you gladly, ok?"

After a few moments he nodded and kissed her in the cheek. "Thank you, sweetheart. I love you." He said with heartfelt emotion.

Piper smiled broadly. "I love you too."

Leo stared at her with tenderness for a few seconds before orbing out.

Piper stood there for a couple of minutes, staring at the spot where her husband used to be. After a while she shook her head, grabbed the screwdriver again and turned to the disposal. She frowned when the disposal made a loud noise. Lately everything in the house was falling apart.

"Hey!" she was interrupted by Paige.

"Hi!" answered Piper and turned back to her work.

"What are you doing?" asked the youngest sister curiously.

"Trying to fix the garbage disposal. What are you doing?"

"I'm going to have brunch with Richard five blocks from here. Is that okay with you?"

Piper shrugged and put the screwdriver at the table. She sat and huffed frustrated. "Sure. I will stay here and try to fix the disposal that is not disposing, the washer that is not washing and the cable that is not cabling." She had let Leo go easily, but maybe she could guilt-trip Paige into helping her.

Paige winced in sympathy. "Don't forget the sink upstairs."

Piper rolled her eyes in a long suffering manner. "How could I?"

"Why don't you call Leo? He's very handy to have around."

Piper bit her thumb softly, stood up and started pacing the kitchen. "He just left, I sent him to the clouds or something to make him feel better. You know he has been devastated since Chris said all those things to him in the bridge. I have never seen him so sad, Paige."

"Maybe doing stuff around the house will help him to set his mind out of the hurtful things Chris said." She said softly.

Piper conceded. "Perhaps, but I want him to try the clouds first. Besides, I want to try to fix the stuff by myself. If I can't fix them I will call him back, ok?" Her baby sister nodded. "Can you help me a bit before you go to your brunch with Richard?"

"Sure, hon. I live here too, so I should lend a hand."

"Thanks. Let's go to the bathroom. I want to try with the sink." She eyed the disposal. "I surrender with that thing." She grabbed the toolbox from the table.

Paige smiled, grabbed her hand and orbed them to the bathroom. A second later they appeared in the bathroom and eyed the clogged sink.

Paige eyed it with distaste. "Maybe a little bit of magic couldn't hurt."

Piper put down the toolbox and looked closely at the water. Suddenly, the water in the sink bubbled and formed a face of a woman. The sisters stepped back, both with eyes wide open.

"Help me!" the face in water pleaded.

Paige stared at her sister. "What…?" she started to ask.

"Phoebe! Come here, now!" Piper yelled.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_*Twenty minutes later*_

The three sisters appeared in a swirl of blue and white orbs fifty feet from some pond. Phoebe scrunched her nose and gazed at her surroundings. "Okay, so water lady pops up from the sink. Are you sure she's not a demon?"

"I'm sure she needed help." Piper said firmly.

"What else did she say?" Phoebe pressed.

Paige shrugged. "That was it. Pretty park, pond and poof."

The pond started to bubble and a sword rose out of the water.

"Over there!" Piper cried and signalled with her index finger.

The sisters gasped in surprise when a woman, made of water, rose out of the water holding onto the sword. After being completely out of the water, she floated over to the land, became corporeal and moved in the direction of the sisters. "The time has come again. Take it and protect it, please." The woman said urgently.

With those words the woman threw the sword over the trees and became incorporeal again, then disappeared into the lake.

The sisters stared confusedly after her for a few moments, not understanding completely what was happening. Finally, Piper was pulled out of her haze.

"Where is the sword?" Piper barked.

They started to walk and reached a clearing. There, in the middle of it, stood the sword, which was sticking out of a large sword.

"It's in the stone." Paige said wide eyed.

"The sword and the stone?" Phoebe asked awestruck.

Piper rolled her eyes and snorted. "Uh, you gotta be kidding me. Right?"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_*Five minutes later*_

"Paige! You broke the table! How could you?" Piper nearly shrieked and gave the evil eye to the stone sitting on the table's remnants.

The youngest sister winced but stood her ground. "I didn't mean to. I have never orbed something so heavy or historic before." She stared at the sword and it glowed. "It's glowing." She breathed and Phoebe walked to her, sharing her surprise over having Excalibur in their home.

Piper waved a hand dismissively. "No, it's not glowing. It's the sunroom, there's a lot of light."

Phoebe scowled at her. "It's five days to Christmas, Piper. There's no sun here."

Paige raised an eyebrow at her oldest sister. "What part of this reality aren't you getting? Sword stone, lady lake?" she asked acidly.

Piper rolled her eyes. "It was a pond."

"Do you think she's from Avalon?" Phoebe turned to her baby sister.

Paige smiled at her, happy that at least _someone_ believed in the legend of Excalibur.

"Yeah, I think she was flushed out by whoever's after Excalibur. The maker of kings." Paige answered.

"Look, we're not talking about Camelot, right? Because that's not real." Piper said sceptically.

Paige raised an eyebrow at her sister and crossed her arms over her chest. "So you're saying you never believed in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?" she challenged her sister.

"Yes, I did, when I was seven and then I grew up." She glared at the sword. "Besides, I have never, ever read about Excalibur in the Book of Shadows."

"The Sword predates the Book, Piper. That doesn't mean anything." Phoebe said, unwilling to believe otherwise.

"Whatever." She raised her arms in surrender. "I don't have time for this, I need to take care of Wyatt, fix the house, and worry about Chris _and_ Leo. I don't have time for this."

Paige bit her lip. "I still have brunch with Richard, remember? I'm actually late."

Phoebe winced in sympathy. "Sorry, sweetie. Jason arrived last night from Japan, I'm going to see him so I need to prepare for the lunch date."

Piper planted her feet firmly on the ground. "So," she started to say slowly. "Besides all the things I told you I have to do," she glared at them and they winced. "Do you want me to baby sit the sword while the two of you go on a romantic escapade?"

Both sisters nodded angelically, blew her kisses and left the conservatory at a swift pace.

Piper stomped her feet on the floor and glared evilly at the glowing sword. "Darn!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

_*Two hours later*_

Piper dried the last dish and smiled to herself. She had managed to fix the sink in the bathroom and prepared lunch for her and Wyatt. She turned to the table and saw the food she had saved for Chris. She hoped he would come that day, but wasn't very sure. She had already called him ten times in the last two hours and he hadn't answered.

She sighed and dried her hands. She put the small towel besides the sink and turned around swiftly at the sound of a voice. Big was her surprise when she saw one of the seven dwarves. She raised an eyebrow, this day was getting better and better she thought sarcastically.

"Hey, lady. We could really use an authority figure out there."

Piper crossed her arms over her chest and looked down. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" the dwarf asked incredulously. "I'm getting pushed around, I just lost my place in the line."

"What line?" Piper asked curiously.

The dwarf left the kitchen haughtily and Piper followed him. Piper's eyes widened comically at the sight that greeted her in the conservatory. Magical creatures of all shapes and sizes were standing in line beside the sword in the stone. One woman was trying to pull the sword out of the stone but it wouldn't budge. The woman gave up and the next in line tried his luck.

"What the hell…?" started to ask Piper.

"Natural selection. We all have a chance to be here and see if anyone of us is the next King Arthur."

Piper was speechless. After a minute or so, she raised her eyes to the ceiling and yelled loudly. "Leo! Chris! Paige! Come here now!" She got out of the conservatory and started pacing in the hallway, expecting the arrival of any of her family members.

A few moments later Paige appeared with a disgruntled expression. "What?"

"What?" Piper nearly shrieked. She peered at the conservatory and saw a fairy trying her luck with the sword. "That's what!" she pointed her finger at the creatures in her house.

Paige looked awestruck. "God, I had a feeling that something like this might happen."

Piper gave her a dirty look. "And you're telling me this now?" She waved the hand dismissively. "Look, I don't care. Bring Phoebe here as fast as you can. We have to control this situation, is getting out of hand."

Paige nodded and left the Manor in a flurry of orbs. "Leo! Chris! We have a situation here!" Piper yelled again and bit her thump again.

A few seconds later Leo appeared and Piper grabbed him by the shoulders. "Honey, I know I sent you to the clouds to help you deal with Chris' rejection. But we have a situation here. I need you." She said softly, hoping that the situation would get him out of his funk.

Leo sighed and smiled softly at her, feeling better by his wife's presence. "What's happening?" he asked.

Piper guided him to the conservatory and pointed her finger at the sword and all the creatures there. "That's what happening."

Leo's eyes almost bulged out in surprise. "Whoa, is that what I think it is?"

Piper huffed. "Maybe. Paige and Phoebe think that is Excalibur. I think not. The point is that I want all this creatures out of the house." Leo didn't move, too entranced with the sword. "Leo! Get them out of my house!" she exclaimed.

Leo reached for the sword but was cut off by a sprite. "Hey, no cuts buddy. Get in the line."

Leo stepped back and watched the proceedings. Piper rolled her eyes and stomped her foot angrily.

"Leo, do something!" she said to him.

"I can't, honey. They have the right to try and pull the sword out of the stone."

"Natural selection." Piper murmured under her breath. "Chris! Paige!" she yelled again.

Paige and Phoebe appeared and both became entranced with the happenings in their house. "Wow. This is awesome." Phoebe breathed. "I remember reading the story when I was a kid."

"Yeah, me too. Do you reckon we will be chosen as knights for the round table?" Her chest puffed. "We are the Charmed Ones after all." She smirked petulantly and Phoebe chuckled.

"Why are you calling Chris, Piper?" Leo asked softly, his eyes showing her his deep fear of another rejection.

Piper turned to Leo and grabbed his hand. "I know you are afraid of another rejection. But you can't run from him any longer, honey." She squeezed his hand. "Besides, he's from the future; he should know about this… this…" she signalled the sword with her free hand. "Pointy and ugly thing."

Phoebe shushed her. "It's not ugly." Her chin tilted up. "It's the maker of Kings."

"Whatever." She took a deep breath and admitted defeat, she turned to Paige. "Try calling for Chris, maybe he will listen to you."

The youngest sister nodded. "Chris! Come here right now, young man! I will not have you ignoring us! Chris!" she yelled and the persons and creatures closest to her covered their ears and winced.

She smirked at them and opened her mouth to yell for her nephew again. Thankfully the boy appeared with a petulant expression in his face. He appeared with his back to the stone so he didn't realize immediately what was happening.

"Thank God!" Piper exclaimed, feeling relieved to see her son safe and sound.

"Where were you?" asked Paige, her hands in her hips.

"I was busy." He said curtly. "What do you want?" He softened his tone.

"Were you in the Underworld alone, Chris? That's why you didn't hear Piper's calls?" Phoebe asked worriedly.

Chris frowned. "No, I wasn't." Seeing that all of them were looking at him curiously he relented. "I was in a meeting with Freya, if you must know."

"The valkyrie…?" Piper asked worriedly.

"Hey, back off fairy, it's my turn." Said a deep voice and Chris turned around.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened a bit. "What's with all the people?"

Paige waved her hand. "Natural selection. Excalibur is here. Do you think we will be chosen as knights?" she asked hopefully.

Chris didn't pain attention to his Aunt. His face blanched when he saw Excalibur and took a step back, almost colliding with Leo. "It wasn't supposed to appear so soon." He said lowly without taking the eyes of the sword.

Phoebe caught the worry in his voice and approached him slowly. "Are you okay, sweetheart? Is there something wrong with the sword?" she asked him softly.

Chris shook his head and stared at the sisters. All of them felt worried at his pale face. "That's sword is damned. You have to get rid of it. Burn it. Destroy it. I don't care what you do with it as long as is far away from here."

Paige looked at him confusedly. "We can't do that, Chris. That sword is historic and powerful and right now is in the process of natural selection. We can't destroy it." She said, trying to sound rational. She thought it would be absurd to destroy Excalibur.

Chris rolled his eyes and snorted angrily. "Fine! I will destroy it by myself, thanks for your help." He finished dryly and walked to the stone, ignoring the protests of the creatures. He was intending to orb the stone and the sword to a far away place, but when he grabbed the hilt of the sword something amazing happened. It slid easily out of the rock and Chris held it in the air. A bell like sound was heard coming from the sword and everyone present gasped.

"_To be continued..."_


End file.
